Long Has This Been Going On?
by Fallen Sky Singer
Summary: COMPLETE! When a nurse brings her young daughter to work, House finds himself amused by her and they become friends. But when a disease strikes both mother and daughter, it is a race against the clock to save them as well as finding the dark secret held b
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Bla bla bla, I don't own House or it's characters. They all belong to Fox... I wish Fox would stop hogging them! Anywho, brief summary, this is in no way going to involve sappy doctor relationships. I can't guarantee updates all the time, school eats up a lot of time.

One of the Hospital staff has to bring her daughter to work (for reasons unknown to the staff.) House finds himself rather taken by the girl (not in some disgusting way) once she helps him get out of clinic duty. When the nurse and girl become stricken by some vile disease, it is a race against the clock to save lives and unmask a terrible secret that lies with the girl.

Et voila, don't like it? Sure thing, doesn't matter much to me, you're the one wasting your time reading it. I'm having a jolly good party writing it!

_"'Neath the stars at bazaars... often I've had to caress men... Five or ten dollars then I collect from all those yes men..."_

"I don't see why you had to drag me out here," Doctor Gregory House shifted his cane

slightly and took a sip of his beer. The dim lights in the bar made his eyes ache, he didn't complain, it was so rare that one of his colleagues asked him out for drinks after work, truth be told, he enjoyed getting out once in a while. He wouldn't tell any of them that.

"Thought you might want to get out of your dismal fortress of solitude just once." James Wilson grinned across the bar table at his friend, "Besides, if you don't get out once and a while you become more grumpy. Then patients start to complain and Cuddy starts to bug me and-."

"The very concerned friend, I see." House observed, "Thanks." Was the muttered reply.

"Anytime."

"Don't be sad, I must add that they meant no more than chessmen... Darling can't you see, twas for charity?" A mellow voice rose from the stage at the far end of the bar.

"So what was with that last case you had?" Wilson looked over the suspicious bowl of bar nuts.

"You don't want to," House said, interpreting his friends look. "A guy with antiphospholipid syndrome."

"You don't see that every day."

"No, you don't, What made it interesting was the arrogant wife hanging off of the guys' arm at every minute of the day."

"Must have made it difficult."

"I don't know, I let Foreman handle it."

_"Though these lips have made slips, it was never really serious... Who'd have thought I'd be brought to a state that's so delirious?"_

"That was nice of you, why do you beat on that guy so much?"

"He amuses me, like a puppet." House said plainly, "I feel so in control, pulling his strings..."

"Not to mention pushing his buttons," Wilson pointed out.

"I'm god, it's my right."

"God... sure."

House pulled out a medicine bottle, unscrewed the cap and popped a pill into his mouth while Wilson looked on with a rather painful judgmental gleam in his eyes.

"Go on, say it, I know you want to. I can feel the shame rays emanating forth, fortunately you haven't mastered crushing peoples skulls with your mind yet, so I think I'm all right for the time being."

"I didn't say anything." Wilson said, pushing aside his friends dry comment. "I just think maybe you ought to slow down on the pain killers a bit."

"Now... we've gone through this before. I become grumpy if I stop taking my candy, you wouldn't want to put the rest of the hospital staff through that again would you?"

_"I could cry salty tears, where have I been all these years? Little wow... tell me now.. How long has this been going on?" _

"The rest of the hospital staff would like to have you committed, or arrested, either one."

"They're just jealous." House said smugly.

"Jealous of what, pray tell?"

"My charm and charisma of course."

"This is the part where I say something smart and you come back at me with a witty retort... I'm not even going to bother trying."

_"There were chills up my spine... And some thrills I can't define. Listen sweet, I repeat... How long has this been going on?"_

"Smart move on your part," House's eye's sparkled with amusement, "You know, If I were that singer showing all those symptoms, I'd get to a doctor."

"She's pretty young," Wilson said as they turned to the stage at the far end of the room and observed a young girl in a short, black dress singing on the stage with a back up band behind her.

"Either that or she's a midget."

"Thank you Politically Incorrect Doctor House."

"Bah, politically incorrectness is everywhere, I don't see why you have to point it out every time I say something..." House muttered.

"Because you _are_ politically incorrect, your methods are, your personality is, your eyes only allow you to see things for you to make fun of..."

"Right now they're tuned in directly on you. When did you and Cuddy exchange brains?"

"Two weeks ago after that big after-work party. Don't ask, it involved martini's and a donkey."

_"Oh I feel that I could melt, into heaven I'm hurled. I know how Columbus felt, finding another world..." _

"In other words, she has a high fever." House sipped his beer as the rancid taste of the pill remained on his tongue.

_"Kiss me once, then once more. What a dunce I was before... What a break for heaven's sake... How long has this been going on?" _

"You ever wonder what the meanings of some of these desperately sad songs are?" Wilson asked as he hummed along to the old tune.

"Not really."

"Oh come on Greg, there must be something other than 'grumble grumble I hate patients grumble grumble' In your head."

"It's about a hooker that's found love,"

"Really?"

"I dunno, but it sounds about right."

"I thought that's what 'Mr. Brightside' was about."

_"Kiss me twice, then once more. That makes thrice, lets... make it four. What a break for heavens sake... How long has this been going on?"_

"It probably is."

_"How long... has this been going on?"_

There was a mellow applause for the woman... young girl on stage, she flushed a brief smile before giving a nod to the guitarist, a second song started playing. House recognized it as "Tomorrow Never Dies."

"Come on," Wilson pulled a few dollars out of his pocket and put them on the table to pay for the drinks. "You've got clinic duty tomorrow, and you'll be up lately thinking of some master plan to avoid Cuddy."

"That's it for Miss Jennifer Corbin, people! Give her and the band a big round of applause!"

"Jen, hey Jenny, are you okay?" The guitarist from the stage sat beside the young girl who was sitting on a couch in the green room. She held her head in her hands and breathed heavily for a moment, her wavy brown hair fell limply around her shoulders.

"Yeah... I'm fine, just tired."

"We did two sets' tonight, I'm not surprised. You must be hungry."

"No... I'm not."

"You have to eat something..."

"Thanks for your concern Spence, but I'm fine. I just need some rest."

"You going with Gloria to the hospital tomorrow?"

The girl, Jenny nodded and smiled, "Yeah, apparently they don't want me at home by myself. Who knows how many days I'm going to be spending there?"

"Jen..." Spencer's voice was suddenly quiet, "I can get you out of here. I've got enough put away."

"I know," She whispered in reply, "And I appreciate it, but for now I've got to stay, you know they'll find me."

"Jen, come on." A gruff looking man stood in the door way, "We're going."

"I'll see you later." Jenny smiled happily and kissed Spencer on the cheek, "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." He agreed.

Jenny stood up and tried to push back the nausea in her stomach as well as the slight spinning feeling that filled her head.

_'I just stood up too fast,'_ she told herself, _'I just need some sleep.'_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Update, I dont care much for this chapter, It was a hassel to get through. Promise the next will be full of House-ism and the familar humor!

"I don't want you to touch anything..."

"Okay, you don't have to tell me twice."

"You can't talk to any doctors, I don't want you to interrupt what they're doing."

"Okay mom, I won't."

"They have very important jobs to do, isn't that right Doctor House?"

House had been trying to ignore the rather irritating nurse in the elevator as she talked loudly to who he could only imagine was her daughter. He opened his mouth to shoot back a bitter and witty reply, but the girl spoke first.

"Noo mother, they only save lives. That's not important. I heard the evil corporations of America are working on creating a giant super bot to deal with all the cases so the doctors can be fired."

"That would make Cuddy's life a lot easier." House muttered with a smirk.

The nurse must have either not heard him or simply ignored the comment of which she was used to hearing. Everyone knew the horror stories of Doctor Gregory House and his attempts to escape clinic duty.

"And I don't want you to get in _anyone's_ way, if I get a SINGLE complaint about you, so help me Jennifer you will..." Her voice trailed off as she spoke, it was clear to House that she either didn't know what she wanted to say or she didn't want him to hear it. Either way, he didn't care.

The Elevator doors slid open and the nurse glared once more at her daughter, "I don't want you wandering... I know you don't like the pediatric floor but so help me you will put with those screaming children..."

"Can't I just find some quiet corner somewhere to hide and be an angsty teen?" The girl asked with a monotonous voice as her mother stepped out of the elevator and turned to glared at her once again.

"Fine, but so help me Jennifer-."

The girl shrugged her shoulders as the elevator doors slid shut and the mechanical box began to lurch once again. It was only House and the young girl standing at opposite ends of the elevator waiting for the very awkward silence to cease, whether it would be broken by one of them or not.

"Did you spit in her cornflakes this morning or is your mother always so happy?" House asked suddenly.

"Both." The girl replied simply, "It's like living with freaking Ronald McDonald."

"I love it when teenagers display such care and concern with their parents and authority figures," House said wistfully, "It's so refreshing to see so much respect in today's society."

"I can't help it, comes with age."

"Strange, I think I made a diagnosis of something like this earlier today, a-something, ang... angst, that's the one."

The young girl glared at the doctor from her corner and opened her mouth to snap a reply when the doors once more slid open, House simply shrugged as he hobbled out into the bustling hallway of the hospital without turning and giving the girl a second glance. In an instant he was hit by the familiar antiseptic smell of the hospital, it never ceased to amaze him that he continued to work in a place full of idiotic people he really couldn't stand day in and day out. He hated clinic duty, and was quite certain that if he didn't have a cane, he would probably smack quite a few of the stupid people up the side of the head.

House quickly checked his surroundings, all clear, and began hobbling down the hallway towards his office where he had full intention of hiding until the sick people came and found him. It was only when he turned the corner and saw Cuddy standing guard in front of his office door, arms folded in a defensive manner and a bitter look on her face. He turned on heel and tried to go back to the elevator when a voice shot out through the crowd.

"DOCTOR HOUSE!"

He winced and slowly turned, only to find himself face to face with an irate looking Doctor Lisa Cuddy.

"Doctor Cuddy, how perfectly wonderful to see you today! Have you lost weight? Is that a new hair style? That colour blouse is wonderful on you-."

"Stuff it, you're a half hour late, the Clinic is waiting for you."

"You see, as much as I'd _love_ to work in clinic duty today, I'm afraid I have a cough..." House forced a cough out, not really trying to convince Cuddy of his 'illness' but instead buy a little more time away from the clinic. "And as a doctor I'll have to be near patients, its really not even safe for me to be here today. I'm not even sure why I am, I guess I'm just _that_ dedicated to my profession and I know I can't leave the poor, _poor_ sick people alone without any help-."

"Nice try." Was all Cuddy said before thrusting her finger over House's shoulder towards the elevator, "I'm going down to the Clinic, if you aren't down there dealing with a patient who has a raging case of syphilis, I will give every nurse you've ever insulted a tranquillizer gun and let them hunt you down."

House held up his fingers and began counting slowly, "One... two...three...four-Okay, I guess it would be in my best interest to go. But..." He coughed again, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Good morning all you sick people and their nosey and irritating, slightly less than loved-ones!" House hobbled into the centre of the clinic, "I am Doctor Gregory House and because I like to avoid communicating with patients at all cost, I already don't like you and you can probably go home if you have one of the following symptoms... If you have a cough, take some Motrin and skip work. If you have a runny nose, buy some Kleenex, I recommend the Soft and Soothing. If you are simply trying to get the most out of your health insurance than just go away, I have no pity for you here. And yes, I walk with a cane, if you press the subject then we'll be transferring you up to emergency so you can have it removed from a very dark and lonesome place."

The clinic was dead quiet.

'_I love my job.'_ He thought with a small smile, "Alrighty then, Deborah Masters, you're patient number one, lucky you. I'll meet you in examine room one, I need _more drugs_ first."

Deborah Masters was a middle aged woman who looked fairly intimidated by House, she meekly stood up and followed a nurse towards the first exam room, looking fairly unsure about her own symptoms. House pulled out his bottle of Vicodin and popped a pill into his mouth, he felt even more irritated that for some reason or another, he hadn't had a run in with Foreman yet, Chase was off that day and Cameron was probably busy being too caring with a patient. He wouldn't have minded a little company...

House sighed and was about to head off to the exam room when something caught his eye. He saw the young girl from the elevator earlier, being pulled off to the side by a young man. He was a nosey person, he had admitted it on several separate occasions, so he felt no guilt in sneaking over to where the two youths had hidden themselves just to listen in on parts of their conversation.

"...Spencer, no, it's not right." The girl whispered as she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one had followed them into the shadows of the Clinic.

"Jenny, do you think what they're doing to you is right? You can't live like that..."

"If you and I go together then they'll know you had something to do with it!"

"Jenny-..."

"I love you Spencer, but you know my dad'll freak out if I go. He'll hunt you down and we'll have to get you sewn back together limb by limb."

"Listen, I have two bus tickets..."

"So use one and give the other to a hobo on the streets... I can't go with you."

"Take it, Jenny." He said forcefully.

There was a pause while Jenny considered her situation. Spencer's green eyes bore into her soul, begging her to take the bus ticket he held out to her. She heaved a sigh and nodded, "Where?"

"New York, Danny talked to his mom, she's agreed to take us in until we can get on our feet."

"You go..."

"Jenny, no!"

"Listen to me Spencer, you go, okay? I'll follow in two or three days. Long enough for people to know you're gone, then it'll look less suspicious when I go."

Spencer heaved a sigh and brushed back his brown hair, "Jen..."

"I'll follow, I promise, we'll do this last set tonight, then tomorrow you get on the bus and you go to New York. I promise I won't be far behind."

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" He asked quietly.

"I'll be fine, what can go wrong in two days?"

"Because you've been looking really pale lately, you haven't been eating properly and all those dizzy spells you have... You should see a doctor."

"I'm surrounded by doctors," Jenny smiled gracefully, "I'm sure if something is desperately wrong with me, they'll notice it right off the bat."

"Jenny, you..."

"Don't say anything, okay? You should get out of here before someone finds you, we don't need my mother prancing around, asking what you were doing here..."

"I'll tell her I sprained my ankle and needed to see a doctor."

"You're a terrible liar, and you know it!" Jenny laughed, "Go on, I'll be fine."

"Okay..."

"See you tonight." She leaned up and kissed the young man on the cheek before stepping out of the shadows, and walking back towards the waiting area of the clinic where she sat in a chair, placed the small envelope into her backpack and pulled out a book.

Spencer stayed there for a moment and pondered what had just happened, he couldn't suppress the worrisome feeling in his stomach that told him it was a mistake to leave Jenny behind. After a few seconds he left the shelter of the shadows and walked out of the clinic, not passing Jenny another look.

House raised an eyebrow in question and walked back to exam room one where Deborah Masters waited to be treated for whatever life threatening illness she thought needed immediate attention. He payed no attention to Jenny as he walked by her towards the room, still, something bothered him about this girl. Something familiar, a sort of bitterness he recongized in himself, it was a feeling that was dangerous for a child her age to have.


	3. Chapter 3

"So you what... want me to kiss it better?" House looked down at the young boy sitting in front of him with a skinned knee, his mother sat beside him, cooing soft words of encouragement and promising him a big present afterwards for being _so_ good for the doctor.

"It hurts." The boy said smartly.

"Yes well, usually flying off of a skateboard and landing in a pit of gravel does hurt a little, I don't know though. I've never tried, It's on my to-do list."

"I think it needs to be cleaned." The mother said.

"Uh... huh." House leaned on his cane for a moment and stared at the woman, then back to her son, back to the mother and then the son once again.

"And... you want me to kiss it better?"

"It needs to be cleaned." The mother repeated again, slightly agitated by House's confusion towards what she believed was a very simple request.

"And, you couldn't do it at home, why?"

"I have no medical experience!" The mother said, "I could cause damage!"

"By what? Poisoning him with peroxide? Jamming a swab so deep into his knee cap that it would cause a blood clot which would suddenly burst forth and move towards your very foolish sons heart and kill him?"

There was a very long pause, one which House had experienced before, he knew one of two things would happen, one the woman would completely miss Houses's sarcasm and say that she had, in fact, been thinking that. Or two, she would call him a very mean doctor.

"Yes, that's exactly it!"

'_One'_ He smiled to himself before rolling his eyes, "Listen, your son had a wipe out on his skateboard, he didn't go cliff jumping down the Grand Canyon without a safety harness. Of course, I could be wrong, the infection of the dirt and grime currently inside his knee could slowly be seeping into his blood, infecting each cell. As mitosis occurs each new cell would be infected, in a matter of minutes your son could be infected with anything..." House leaned in closer to the woman, eyes wide, he whispered, "_Anything!_"

The woman looked thoroughly horrified by what House had just told her.

"But... then you have to do something!"

"Actually, the hospital is trying an experimental treatment for such cases," He walked over to the counter and pulled a few cotton swabs out of a jar, followed by a rubber glove and three packets of peroxide swabs. "It's called Occupational Parental Curesone." He lied through his teeth, quite proud of making up a new treatment just like that. "It's where the parent of the patient uses love, care, and medical supplies to heal their loved ones and bring them to a full recovery. It's had marvellous results thus far, you should try it." He tossed her the supplies, "I'll be back in ten minutes, I need to...do something not here."

He left the exam room and heaved a sigh, an hour and a half of those morons, now he desperately needed a ten minute break. House hobbled out of the clinic and through the front doors into the streaming sunlight of day. It was Summer, just past noon, residents strolled through the campus on their lunch break, enjoying the fresh air one last time before being forced back in the building to deal with patients who really weren't that grateful anyway.

The sound of someone being sick in a garbage can hit House, he peered around the corner out to the open area covered with the odd oak tree and benches. A young girl, _the_ young girl from the elevator and the clinic was stepping away from the garbage can and practically falling back onto one of the benches. House knew Cuddy would be looking for him in a matter of minutes, he didn't feel like spending his break dealing with another possible patient. Still, he did have _some_ morals, and it seemed only appropriate that he, a doctor, make sure she was all right.

"You okay?"

The girl didn't look up at first, she just sat on the bench, huddled over her knees, breathing deeply, after a moment she looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You should see a doctor..."

"I'm not sick."

"The contents of your lunch would disagree." House said as he peered into the trash can, "Which appears to be a cucumber sandwich and a pudding cup."

"I'm fine," the girl said again, getting rather irate by this nosey man. "Just a bit of food poisoning."

"Well, if it's just food poisoning then I guess I won't bother you any more." House shrugged, "Aren't you supposed to be inside?"

The girl looked up at House again and a lightbulb went off in her head, she recognized him. "You're that doctor from the elevator, the one who called me angsty!"

"You're that teenager... the angsty one!"

The girl rolled her eyes and leaned back on the bench, suppressing the sick feeling in her stomach once more, determined to not let him see her throw up again.

"Don't you have some patients to be rude to?"

She had obviously heard all about the legendary Doctor House and his patient avoiding ways.

"You're a bit defensive for someone who just finished losing her lunch to the garbage can." House said as he hobbled closer to the girl, regretting immediately trying to engage her in conversation.

"I'm defensive because nosey one legged doctors seem to enjoy going into my business even when I want to be left alone!" The girl immediately got a pained look on her face that told House she was genuinely sorry for what she had said. She did not apologize, instead she held her head in her hands once more and tried to hold back the sickening feeling in her stomach.

"Come on kid, I'll get you some Gravol in the clinic. Maybe I can get out of duty."

The young girl seemed quite wary at trusting the man before her, he didn't _seem_ like a doctor, quite the opposite in fact. There was a long silence before she sighed heavily and stood up slowly.

"Okay,"

Forty-Five minutes later

"So how's your stomach now?" House asked without looking up from his video game.

"Better." The girl replied simply, "Thanks."

"Anytime, it's what I'm paid to do."

"You don't seem to enjoy it a whole lot."

"On the contrary," House snapped the game shut and looked up at the girl who was sitting on the exam room table, still not looking any better. "I do enjoy it, I just hate the patients."

"Why?"

"Why not?" House replied, "They're loud, noisy, think they know everything, when I tell them they have something they deny it, they lie, they make stupid choices..."

"Okay, I get it." The girl put her hands up in defense, "You don't like patients, patients are stupid."

"I don't hate every patient," House explained, "Just most of them, every so often you get one that really is sick, tells you the truth and doesn't deny that he or she has a problem."

"You're a man full of love," The girl muttered darkly as she swung her legs back and forth in the air.

"And you're a kid about to make a big mistake," House pointed out, "Running away isn't the smartest idea in the world."

The girl looked at him sharply with a glare in her eyes, "And eavesdropping isn't a good personality trait to have, what-."

"I don't care what your problem is," House said firmly, "But whatever it is, I'm sure it can't be solved by running away from home with some guy, **who** probably wants to just get in your pants." He added.

There was silence for a moment while she shifted uncomfortably and tried to make sense of what was going on... Someone knew her secret, someone knew _her_ secret, her only way out. She opened her mouth to snap a reply when the door to the exam room opened and Wilson entered, "Are you Nurse Corbin's daughter?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Your mothers off the wall looking for you, Better get up to peds right away."

"Great." The girl hopped off of the exam table and turned to House, "Are you going to-."

"No," he replied simply, "But we're going to continue this conversation before Wednesday."

The girl heaved a sigh before walking past Wilson and out of the exam room, obviously unnerved that someone knew her secret, let alone a doctor who worked with her mother. House watched the empty spot where the girl had disappeared for a moment, a look of great concentration on his face. He knew that there was something more to this girl than he could see, some secret which she had taken great time and effort to hide from the rest of the world.

"What's with you?"

"I'm pondering the meaning of life," House replied without skipping a beat, "I also have the Monty Python sperm song stuck in my head."

"The two go hand in hand, what was with the kid?"

"Sick stomach."

"Cuddy was looking for you."

"I was with a patient."

"She checked the chart," Wilson replied with a sly smirk, "I had to take the heat, she was ranting on about how a kid with a sick stomach doesn't take forty-five minutes to treat."

"I wanted to make sure she didn't have an allergic reaction."

"Tell that to Cuddy, you've got a one way ticket to the firing range, and you're the target."

House simply shrugged, he wasn't too worried about Cuddy, he was more curious about the girl and her mother.

"So... who's that kids mother?"

"Nurse Corbin," Wilson replied as he leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed in the same manner they were whenever he knew House was up to something, "She's been on pediatrics for five months now."

"Didn't we hear a Corbin at the bar last night?"

"Yeah, that kid on stage... what, was that her?"

"I think so," House replied, "Didn't catch her name."

"You treated her... and you didn't get her name?"

"I hardly think giving her a glass of water and a Gravol pill counts as 'treating'." House made quotation signs in the air, "Besides, she looked like the kind of kid who really didn't want to tell me much, I was actually getting somewhere when you barged in."

"You... talking to a patient?"

"Yes..."

"About... their lives?"

"Yes."

"How much Vicodin have you taken?" Wilson asked.

"Funny," House muttered as he pocketed his game and stood up, "Like an inner ear infection."

"What the hell were you thinking!" A sharp pain jolted across Jenny's face as she was thrown to the ground. A man stood over her, his fist raised again, ready to attack. She did not move from her space on the cold cement floor, She couldn't, her body was too weak.

"It wasn't my fault..." She whimpered, "I-I was sick, and he saw..."

"You should have just walked away!"

"I tried... I couldn't. Please..."

"You're making this very difficult, Jenny." The voice was low all of a sudden, almost sickly sweet. "If you talk to that doctor again, or any doctor, there will be hell to pay." He chuckled slightly as the sound of a raging cough erupted from above them. "Your mother's sick again, I'm going to deal with her. Be ready in a half hour."

Jenny kept her eyes closed tight, blocking out the image of the man above her, she instead listened to his foot steps as they became more distant, the old wooden stairs squeaked beneath him as he reached the top of the flight, opened the door and then slammed it shut again. She lay there in the silence for a moment and, like every night of her life, prayed to be taken away from the terrible place she called home. She had forgotten about the bus ticket to New York, pressed gently in between the pages of her book, the Gravol the doctor had given her was wearing off.

She vomited quite violently into a garbage can, feeling the pain as her stomach desperately tried to squeeze out food that was not there.


	4. Chapter 4

"He hit you again, didn't he? That son of a bitch, I'm going to break his fu-."

"Shush, he'll hear you." Jenny quickly put her finger to Spencer's lips as she looked around, making sure that _he_ wasn't anywhere nearby. "Yes he did, don't worry, alright? Remember, two days, three at the most, I promise I'll be right behind you."

"But..."

"You asked for her people, Jennifer Corbin and Darkest Hour!"

"Come on," Jen smiled gently and tugged on Spencer's hand, "Let's go and enjoy this last show."

They walked out into the lights of the stage, there was a loud applause and Jenny gave Spencer one last look of hope before taking the microphone in hand. This was what she stayed around for, the music, the lights, the applause, while she was on the stage with her love and best friends behind her nothing else mattered.

"_I have given, I have given and got none... Still I'm driven by something I can't explain. It's not a cross it is a choice, I can not help but hear his voice. I only wish that I could listen without shame..._"

The pain in her jaw was great but she continued to sing, it hadn't taken long for a bruise to appear across her right cheek, she had enough coverup to hide most of it, but Spencer had noticed the moment she had walked backstage.

" _Let it rain, Let it rain on me. Let it rain, oh let it rain. Let it rain on me..."_

House had arrived in time to see the first song, the minute he heard her voice, he knew at once it was the same young girl he had treated earlier in the day. Wilson was right, she was young, too young to be working in a bar and certainly too young to be leaving home. He had chosen a seat near the back of the bar, ordered a beer and pulled out his video game. He wasn't interested in the drink, or even being around people, he was interested in seeing what might happen to the girl.

"_I have been a witness to the perfect crime, I wipe the grin off of my face to hide the blame. It isn't worth the tears you cry to have a perfect alibi. Now I'm beaten at the hands of my own game..."_

Jenny had seen a figure arriving late and at first, payed him no heed until she recognized the cane... Mentally she swore and wondered if it was just coincidence or if he knew who she was. She hoped it was a coincidence and he wouldn't recognize her, it was dangerous for him to be there, if her dad saw... Not many doctors had canes, he would stand out.

"_It isn't easy to be kind, With all these demons in my mind I only hope one day I'll be free. I do my best not to complain, My face is dirty from the strain I only hope one day I'll come clean."_

House chuckled quietly as Space monkeys began attacking him again, it was strange how this song compared to his own life. He wondered how many of his associates would laugh at him or be shocked to hear him relate his life to a song.

"_Come take my hand. We can walk to the light, And without fear, We can see through the darkest night..."_

'_Leave,'_ Jenny thought desperately, _'Get out of here, you have to leave!"_

The song ended and there was a loud applause, Jenny smiled graciously, the room began to spin... She gripped the microphone stand as her body began to sway back and forth, her mind became clouded. Spencer saw her stumble slightly and gently reached out to support_ the young girl, she smiled at him and gave a feeble nod._

"I'm fine," She whispered, "Don't worry." Spencer nodded and moved back to his position. The second song began playing and Jen shook her head slightly to clear her mind.

"_And I'd give up forever to touch you, cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to Heaven that I'll ever be, and I don't want to go home right now."_

Jenny turned as she sang and looked at Spencer who was strumming on his guitar. He grinned back at her, it was clear that there was a spark between the two of them.

"_And all I can taste is this moment. And all I can breathe is your life. And sooner or later it's over, I just don't want to miss you tonight."_

From the shadows off stage, a man watched this spark take place, his eyes were colder than the arctic breeze, his arms were folded in a defensive manner. If one word could be chosen to describe the man, it would be 'evil', a person didn't have to speak to him to realize it.

"_And I don't want the world to see me, Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am..." _

"It's your lucky day House, no clinic duty."

House looked up from his game of solitaire on his desk as Cuddy walked in and turned down the blasting music from his mp3 player.

"Obviously all this blasting music has impaired my hearing because I thought I just heard you say there was no clinic duty today."

"No, you heard fine, a nurse from pediatric is sick, Gloria Corbin. I'm putting you on it, have fun."

"Well what's wrong with her?"

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Cuddy said sharply as she glared at House, "That's why I'm having you... a diagnostician, deal with her."

"Well what are her symptoms?" House turned back to his solitaire game and placed the black queen on a red king.

"extreme fatigue, fever, cough-."

"Tell her to stop kissing boys."

"What?"

"Mono."

"She doesn't have mono. Weight loss, and she's coughing up blood, not a lot, but enough to raise alarm."

House sighed.

"What?"

"I can't find any other moves."

"Just... deal with it." Cuddy said as she rolled her eyes, and turned to leave the office, "And seven on diamonds on the black eight of clubs."

House looked back down at his cards as Cuddy left his office and put the seven on the eight. With a slight sigh he stood up and hobbled towards the conference room where his little minions waited for him to tell them what to do, since apparently they weren't capable of doing it themselves.

Doctor Allison Cameron glared at her coworker, Eric Foreman, as he continued to rant and rave about House's methods of curing patients. Robert Chase sat off to the side of the long table and sipped his coffee, not paying any attention to the argument taking place. A whiteboard stood blankly across from him, many times he and the others had quarrelled viciously about the disease they were trying to cure, fewer times they actually agreed with each other.

"His methods usually work..." Cameron pointed out as she took a sip of her bitter coffee.

"He has no methods!" Foreman protested angrily, "It's pure luck!"

"He walks with a cane, wouldn't call that lucky." Chase muttered.

"That man is a maniac!" Foreman protested again, "We're lucky we haven't been fired from having to be the guinea pigs for his crazed ideas!"

"Hey, you could have gotten out," Chase pointed out, "But you stuck around, so don't go complaining about his methods. He must be doing something right in your mind..."

"Alright!" House entered the conference room and grinned slightly, "Are we ready to cure a nurse?"

Dead silence as the three doctors exchanged nervous glances with each other.

"Wow, tough crowd." House muttered, "Okay, so what do we know?"

"Gloria Corbin, forty-two years old, mother of one-" Cameron began saying.

"I didn't ask for her dating agency profile tape, you should know me better than that by now. What are her symptoms?"

"Coughing up blood," Chase said as he watched House pick up a black whiteboard marker and quickly jot down the words, as he had so many times before, "Weight loss."

"Fever, fatigue and chest pain." Cameron finished, "It leaves a wide range of possibilities."

"So, should we start guessing and testing or has an independent brain cell grown between the three of you that will allow one of you to make a reasonable guess."

"It could be lung cancer." Foreman suggested.

"Family history?" House asked.

"None," Chase replied as he gave Foreman an apologetic glance for supporting the 'enemy'. "No cancer in any family member, she doesn't work with and mutagens, she works in peds for goodness sake."

"Lab tests?"

"White blood cells are elevated, she's obviously fighting something rough." Cameron said, "But it's not too high yet, her BP isn't responding to the iv drip."

"Alright, anyone else with a brilliant diagnosis?"

"It could be Wegener's granulomatosis," Chase suggested, "That does account for all the symptoms..."

"Nice call," House said, "Any objects? Anyone at all?" Silence. "No? Alright, Start her on prednisone and cyclophosphamide pills, I've got a solitaire game against myself that I have to finish. I'll be in my office if you need me."

And with that said and done, House limped out of the conference room back into his office, leaving the three doctors in a small amount of shock.

"Well, that was painless." Cameron muttered.

"For you." Foreman replied, "I don't get why he always has to shoot my ideas down."

"Because you're usually wrong?" Chase suggested.

Foreman glared angrily at him, "Et tu Brutus? Is this your knife in my back, do you want it returned?"

"While you two are busy being childish, I'm going to tend the patient. Would anyone else like to do their job?" Cameron stood up, her voice was icy and both Foreman and Chase knew that they had hit a nerve, so they mutely followed her out of the conference room and down the hall.

Jenny watched with curiosity as the female doctor, what was her name? Cameron, Doctor Cameron hooked a bag of liquid above her mother and checked the iv. Her mother looked strangely content with her situation, although she was dreadfully pale and thin, she did not complain, instead she smiled as Cameron stood back.

"This should help you feel better in a few hours."

"Thank you," Gloria smiled at the doctors and cough weakly, "This is a bit of an imposition."

"Well, I'm sure you're daughter will help you get back on your feet." Foreman said with a grin as he looked over at Jenny, who had her legs hanging over the edge of the chair, a book in hand. "That's some bruise you've got on your face, what happened?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Jenny said with a weary smile as she looked up from her book.

"Try us." Allison said with a smirk.

"I was walking up the stairs, my cat likes to lay right in the middle, I tried to step over him when he tried to hook my foot, I fell into the banister."

"Ouch," Chase muttered, "Want some ice for it?"

"No thanks," Jenny replied, "I'm okay."

"Alright, well, We'll come in and check on you in a few hours Gloria." Cameron could have sworn that she saw the nurse glance sharply at the young girl who had turned back to her novel and obviously not seen her mothers cold eyes. The three doctors left the hospital room in silence and walked down the hall a few meters before stopping and looking at each other.

"Hit... the banister?" Chase asked.

"At least she's creative," Foreman muttered.

"Most people just say they tripped." Cameron said quietly.

"She tripped alright, right onto someone's fist." Chase shook his head, "I thought Gloria was a stable person."

"What should we do?" Cameron asked.

"Nothing," House had somehow crept up behind them and obviously understood the conversation from the few words they had exchanged. "She's not our patient, and it's none of our business."

"Thats never stopped you before." Chase pointed out.

"Well I thought I'd try something new for today. Anyways, it's none of our business, our job is to get her mother better. Besides, I'm sure she'll deal with it."

"How do you-." Foreman began to say.

"Don't... ask." Cameron hissed sunder her breath.

"It doesn't matter how I know," House said calmly, "Just leave it alone."

And with that said, House quietly walked back to his office where a game of solitaire begged to be finished. He couldn't concentrate on it any longer though, his mind was on that young girl, so many things seemed wrong with her situation, that was her in the bar. She wasn't any older than fifteen? Why was she working in a bar? Why was she throwing up so violently yesterday?

Why didn't he ever take his own advice and not concern himself with her?


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you doing?"

It wasn't the curiosity type of question, as if a person was asking another what he or she was doing to pass the time. Instead it was a demanding question, as if one person was asking another, 'What are you doing, taking up space and air in the hospital?'

Jenny didn't look up to see House, she just put three small beads onto a thin wire and pulled the opposite wire through the small holes.

"Making a lizard."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't learned how to make a penguin yet."

House couldn't decide if she was being sarcastic or not, the young girl simply went on her way, placing another two bright blue beads on the wire and repeating the process. It had been just over an hour since they had begun the treatment on Gloria Corbin, so far there had been no results. In fact, her white blood cell count had risen substantially, she was fighting off the foreign medication in her body. House had decided to go for a walk to try and clear his mind when he came across the girl, Jenny, sitting far away from her mothers room alone, making bead lizards.

"Is your friend gone?" House asked.

"Yes."

"Are you going?"

"Yes."

"Are you saying 'yes' to all my questions?"

"Yes." The girl looked up sharply, "I'm going, are you going to try and stop me?"

"When are you leaving?" House sat next to the young girl and fiddled with his cane.

"When my dad comes, someone has to look over my mom."

"Why do you work in a bar?"

"Why is it any of your business?"

"It's not." House shrugged, "I can't help it, I'm just so fascinated by fifteen year-old girls who are abused, work at bars and have conspiracies to run away from home."

"How did you know I was fifteen?"

"Looked through your mothers file, I felt obligated to...being her doctor and all."

"And yet, you haven't actually checked on her yet." Jenny noted, "You really _do_ hate the patients."

"I find I accomplish a lot more by not holding any emotion for the people I treat. That way I care less if something goes wrong and I can be brutally honest." House watched as the young girl slipped three blue beads and three white beads onto the wire and then crossed the wire over the three and through the first blue ones. "How many of those do you have?"

Jenny pointed to a box resting on her knee that was full of the small multicoloured animals as she repeated the process on the other side of the wire, making legs.

"Good grief." House muttered, "You need a hobby."

"I have one," Jenny replied, "Making bead lizards."

"So who gave you the shiner?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Most people say they fell down...or tripped... or-."

"I did trip."

"Onto someone's fist..."

"A _banister_..." Jenny said sternly, "Trust me, If I was getting abused I would-."

"Get on a bus and leave?" House suggested with his brow raised.

"Call the cops." Jenny finished with a glare. "Do you want something? Or are you just wasting time?"

"If I was trying to waste time I'd still be playing Solitaire or Super Mario RPG, instead I'm trying to find a way to convince you not to run away."

"Why?" Jenny demanded angrily, "You don't know me, you don't know anything about me! Why would you try to help? You have no idea what-."

"If you run away, your problems will follow you," House said calmly. "They always do, I don't know what you're trying to run from but you can stay and fight it..."

"Fight it." Jenny scoffed, "Doctor House, I've been fighting it for thirteen years, I've got not ammo left, no army to stand beside me, I'm quite content with turning and running away."

House heaved a sigh, "Fine, but at least be careful, its dangerous going to New York by yourself." He adjusted his grip on his cane and slowly stood up, "By the way, why _do_ you work at a bar?"

"It's a job my dad arranged for me." Jenny said as she turned back to her lizard, "I don't know why, I enjoy it though."

House scratched his rough chin before turning to leave when Jenny looked up and quickly spoke.

"Doctor House?"

"Yeah?"

"I wouldn't go back there if I were you, they know it was you, they think I talked to you. I didn't but... you probably aren't that safe."

House stared at the young girl for a moment before turning and walking away, it was a strange and cryptic warning, one he had never received before, let alone from a fifteen year old girl.

Jenny watched the nosey doctor hobble down the hall out of the corner of her eye and wondered if he would really stay out of her business or if by warning him, she was simply increasing his curiosity which would not do. She pulled the wires tight and twisted them shut, a miniature lizard, no larger than a Canadian tooney stared at her with purple eyes, its tiny nose was upturned as if it was staring at its creator with great interest. She gently placed him in the box and then put the box in her backpack, she needed to get out of the hospital. Her father wasn't there yet, her mother was still quite incapacitated, no one would mind if she went for a walk, as long as no one found out.

"She is being abused!"

"You heard House, it's none of our business!"

"We're treating her mother, we could be treating the woman who abuses her!"

"How do you know its not a boyfriend?"

"How do you know it is?"

"Honestly Allison, you're getting all worked up about nothing..."

"Well someone has to _Robert_, either way you look at it, she's being abused by _someone_."

"So what do you suggest we do? Call child services? There's no proof, she has a black eye, that's nothing!"

"I don't know why I even bother voicing my concerns to you, you just brush them off like they're nothing..."

"House says not to worry about it, so we shouldn't. You're the one who always tells us to trust him..."

"But-."

"Hey, you guys?" Foreman stuck his head through the door of the room in which Cameron and Chase found themselves arguing. "There's another patient."

"Who?" They asked in unison before exchanging looks of bewilderment.

"Gloria's daughter, what's her name? Jenny? She's in worse shape than her mother, coughing up a lot of blood."

"BP?" Chase asked as he and Cameron swiftly dropped their fight and followed Foreman toward the room.

"86 over 65," Foreman replied, "And she has a temperature of 100.4."

"What happened?"

"A resident found her collapsed outside on the sidewalk, unconscious, we were able to revive her, looks like she's got whatever her mom has."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Teehee! Thank you everyone! I'm on Spring Break hence the quick updates! I've noticed that I've sort of lost a bit of House's personality, I'll try to fix that!

"All right, so what have we got now?"

"Another patient," Foreman said as he clicked his pen repeatedly in a nervous fashion, "Jennifer Corbin..."

"Who?" House asked.

"Jennifer Corbin," Foreman repeated, "Daughter of Gloria Corbin..."

"Who?"

"The woman we're treating for Wegener's..." Foreman said.

"Treatment isn't working..." Cameron said.

"And now her daughters got whatever she has." Chase finished.

"Oh, the short one." House said as a lightbulb went off in his head.

"She's not that short," Cameron protested, "Five-four and a half isn't that short."

"She's short for someone her age." House replied as he pulled out his Vicodin and threw a pill into the air, catching it in his mouth.

"Okay, her height isn't the issue here!" Foreman snapped, "Mother and daughter are sick, daughter is presenting stronger symptoms of the mother, neither is responding to the prednisone or cyclophosphamide."

"So what does that tell you?"

"Chase was wrong." Foreman said, "And not me, that's a good feeling."

"The only reason you weren't wrong is because you didn't have any clue what it could be." Chase said angrily.

"It's an infection of some kind, it has to be." Cameron said swiftly, "With those symptoms, something in their lungs?"

"Something in their environment." House replied as he tapped his cane slowly on the ground and stared at the whiteboard. "Foreman, Cameron, go break into the Corbin house, that shouldn't pose much of a task for Foreman. Check both the mother and daughters rooms for living things, if you look at you and it looks back, the chances are it probably shouldn't be there. I'm ordering an x-ray of the mothers lungs, if the kid becomes stable then CT her."

There was a long pause while the doctors exchanged rather nervous glances, House only rolled his eyes, "Well what are you waiting for? Go! Vamoose! Scat!"

Foreman and Chase were quickest to leave as House collapsed onto a chair and stared at the whiteboard, a red pen in hand. Cameron held back for a moment, trying to decide whether or not it would be worth it to mention her fears of abuse. He would probably just brush it off as always.

"Doctor House?"

"Yes, I know, abuse, bla bla bla. You've made your stand on the situation perfectly clear..."

"You don't get it, do you?" Cameron asked sharply, "Why is it every time we get any normal case you refuse to talk to the patient because you're convinced he or she will lie to you, but when you get a case like this, when the patient is obviously lying, you get closer?"

"You don't know she's lying..." House pointed out.

"So you really believe that she hit the banister?" Cameron asked, slightly bewildered, "I thought you were smarter than that."

"See, that's where you're wrong." House looked up at the young woman, "A, I don't believe she hit the banister, In fact, I think you're right, she probably is being abused, but when a patient refuses to do something about it, that's when I stop giving a crap. When I know a patient is attempting to do something about their own problems, then I feel more inclined to worry about them. And B, I am smart, you're just confused."

Cameron rolled her eyes, knowing that House obviously knew something she did not, it didn't make any sense for her to fight him or even try to comprehend what he was doing.

"We'll let you know what we find at their place..." She turned on her heel to leave when House pulled out a key chain.

"Catch," He tossed her the key chain and turned back to his whiteboard.

"What..."

"I pinched it from the mothers' bag, it'll save you a lot of trouble."

"Thanks..." Cameron raised her eyebrow in confusion and simply shrugged her shoulders, pocketing the small key chain which had several different keys of all shapes and sizes on it. "You wouldn't know which key actually opens the front door do you?"

"That wouldn't be any fun." House explained, "That would be handing you a solution on a silver platter, where's the fun? The challenge? The adventure?"

"The time used to treat other patients?" Cameron asked with a brow raised, a smirk forming on her lips.

"Yes well, to each his own I suppose." He turned back to the whiteboard, Cameron merely shrugged her shoulders and left the conference room.

House threw the red pen up in the air and caught it, and then repeated the process several more times, each time, making the throw higher and higher until the pen nearly touched the ceiling. There was obviously something more going on, there usually was, nothing made this case any more spectacular or special than the last or the next one to come along, and yet... he was fascinated by it. He was fascinated by a girl that reminded him...of him. The same personality, same bitterness, same lack of communication and the same need to distance herself from the people who tried to draw her close.

The pen went higher and higher, spinning in a whirl of red and white far above House's head. Suddenly he let it fall to the ground, he stared at the whiteboard with curiosity and tried to think back to his last conversation with the girl.

House swiftly leaned over and picked up the pen and took off the cap. He drew a squiggle line underneath of the list of symptoms and wrote in bold letters **_'THIRTEEN? WHY?'_**

"Why thirteen?" He muttered, "She's fifteen..."

"Why me?" Foreman muttered, "Why... me? Every time we have to check someone's house, it's always 'Foreman, you go, you're-"

"If you say black, I'll hit you."

"Well it always is..."

"Are you suggesting," Cameron began to ask as she looked into the vast and disgustingly neat living room in the Corbin residence, "That House hates you because you're black?"

"Damn right." Foreman replied as he looked around, "Good grief, this place is huge. How many live here?"

"Three."

"More like three dozen." Foreman muttered in awe as he looked around. They had to pass through a set of large metal gates (of which both doctors successfully climbed over) and then down a long brick driveway to where the mansion Corbin residence stood. It was built of old red bricks and looked quite classy with green vines growing along the walls. Inside was even more spectacular, there was a high ceiling with a chandelier hanging down, a stair case wound up to a second floor while three hallways on the first proved just how wealthy the Corbin's truly were.

"You'd need a map just to find the kitchen," Cameron murmured as she looked around, "Oh, looks like they have dogs." A picture of two Rottweilers was framed elegantly and sitting on a table by the front door, both dogs looked vicious and unkempt.

"This is like the perfect American home, pleasantville. Something out of Desperate Housewives." Foreman said with a slight disgust in his voice, "Come on, lets find their rooms and pan out from there."

"Doesn't it creep you out a little?" Cameron asked as she began walking up the rather long staircase, "I mean, how clean and neat this place is? Look at it, it's like something out of a real-estate commercial, everything in its place. Human beings don't live in places like this."

"Well, according to House, the mother and daughter are both a little odd."

"You know why the daughter's odd don't you, because she's-..."

"Don't start with the abused thing again, all right? I believe you, I saw that shiner, no way she hit her eye on a banister." Foreman sighed, "But unless there's some magical way you can prove it, we can't do a whole lot."

"Maybe..." Cameron muttered to herself as she came to the top of the stairs with Foreman directly behind her, "Okay, where do you want to start?"

"I'll go left, you go right?"

"Sure thing."

An hour swiftly turned into two hours, Foreman had found Mr and Mrs Corbin's room, it was elegantly dressed up in red satins and gold trim, and it was also perfectly clean. Allison had found no trace of Jenny's room, only several rooms that appeared to be made up for guests. There was no sign of anything that would cause such symptoms. Apart from a little dust, the entire house was clean beyond belief.

"I'm calling House, this is ridiculous." Cameron said bitterly, "There's nothing here."

House was watching General Hospital on his little tv in his office when his phone ringed, he sighed.

'_Always during GH...'_

"Yeah?"

"It's Allison, listen, there is _nothing_ here."

"Are you in the right house?"

"Yes."

"The key... went into the lock? Because you know, if you try to force it then it probably isn't te right one."

Cameron sighed, "Yes, I know. It's the right house."

"And you found nothing?"

"Nothing." Cameron repeated.

"Not even a couch? Some boxes they sit on? A tv remote? A pair of shoes? Some three week old pasta in the back of the fridge that might be the cause of this?"

"Nothing."

"And what about the girls room?"

"Jenny?"

"Yeah, the short one."

"She's not-.."

"Give me the phone," Foreman snatched it out of Cameron's hand before she could continue arguing with house and prolong their return to the hospital. "We're standing in the middle of the house and there is nothing, it's like Martha Stewart came around and gave the place a good hoovering. It's cleaner than the inside of an OR."

"And what about...what's her face?"

"Jenny?"

"Yes, what about her room?"

"That's where it gets interesting." Foreman said as he spun around once more, as if trying desperately to find something...some sign of a teenage girl's presence in the home, he knew he would not find it. "We can't find her room. It's like she doesn't exist."

"You..Can't find her room?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you capable of giving me a more complex answer than just yes?"

"What more do you want? We've checked every room in this house, there is absolutely no sign of her."

"And none of the other many rooms have any sign of her?"

"No."

"Well, that's a nice change from 'yes'. I love a little negativity once and a while."

"She's a teenage girl, her room should be plastered with posters of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, all the other rooms are vacant, like they're meant for guests to sleep in."

"Have you tried all the keys?"

"What?"

House sighed, "There were a lot of keys on the chain I gave Cameron, have you tried them in every lock? Every closet door? Maybe you missed something."

"Can I call you back?"

"No, I think I'll just stay on hold." House said with slight humour in his voice, Foreman rolled his eyes and pulled the cell phone away from his ear.

"Have we tried all the closet doors?"

"Yeah, most of them I think." Cameron said.

"What about that one?" Foreman extended a finger toward a door that was underneath the staircase, both doctors had simply brushed it off earlier as a broom closest but now... Allison grasped the door handle and tried to turn it, it was locked. She sighed and pulled out the key chain, carefully, one by one, she began to test the different keys, _one_ of them _had_ to fit.

"Bingo." She smiled as there was a satisfying click in the lock. The door slowly squeaked open, as if it was something from a cheesy old horror movie in which there was a lot of needless blood and gore and bad animation. Cameron gave Foreman a quizzical look, the rest of the house was perfect, why would that one door squeak?

"It leads to the basement." Cameron whispered, "Do you have your flashlight with you?"

Foreman nodded and pulled it out, tossing it to Cameron and then putting the phone back to his ear, "We found the door to the basement, keep holdi... Are you listening to elevator music?"

The music in the background stopped abruptly, "No." House said. "And I'm allowed to try and fit the mood."

"Yeah well if you have old fifties horror, I suggest you put it on."

Immediately the Psycho theme song began to play from the other end of the phone, Foreman could only roll his eyes and follow Cameron down.

The old wooden stairs creaked beneath their feet as they followed the beam of light down into the basement. There was an immediate change in the air, not only did it become musty and damp, but the basement felt _wrong_... It was...cold.

"Let's find a light switch." Cameron whispered, afraid to raise her voice, as if it would disturb whatever unseen spirit rested there.

The frightening mood was almost immediately tarnished as the Psycho Theme Song became louder, House obviously heard the fear in her voice and turned it up so they could hear through the cell phone.

"Here it is." Foreman flicked a switch and a single bulb overhead spluttered on.

"Oh god..." Cameron whispered, "What is this place?"

"She...lives down here?"

"She's a prisoner here."

The basement was indeed a cold and black place. The floor was plain cement, as were the walls, in one far corner there was a small bed frame, with an old mattress and a thin wool blanket on it. Far too small and certainly too feeble to protect Jenny against the basements frigid air. There was a wastebasket near by which reeked of old vomit, a few books which looked as if they had been found buried underneath three centuries of dirt, lay by the bed. Along the pale grey cement floor, long streaks of blood could be seen, old and fresh, there was nothing else to the dungeon.

It was most certainly Jenny's 'room'.

"Oh my god, oh..." Foreman muttered, "Oh...my...god."

Cameron quickly swallowed her own fear and walked over to the wall which the bed rested against and looked into a vent. With a small smile of relief she took out her tweezers and plucked several microscopic spores from the outlet, and placed them into a plastic bag.

"Found you." She murmured.


	7. Chapter 7

"How creepy was it?" Chase asked as he leaned against a counter in the lab, his arms folded in a relaxed manner.

"It was _beyond_ creepy," Foreman replied as he peered at something through a microscope, "We're talking a dungeon. There was nothing to that basement."

"And you're sure you had the right house?"

"Yes." Cameron and Foreman said together, quite bitterly.

"Well why would they keep her in the basement?"

"Why would they abuse her?" Cameron replied, "Who knows, it's just one of those things that people think they can justify."

"Maybe there's more to it..." Chase muttered.

"Like what?" Foreman asked bitterly, She's a homicidal maniac they have to keep locked up in the basement? Listen, the kid is beyond over weight, she's skin and bones, no one can justify keeping another human being in those conditions."

"All I'm saying is maybe there's more to this 'family secret' than just abuse." Chase turned back to a tray of test tubes and did not see Cameron and Foreman exchange pained looks.

xXx

House stood outside the room of Jenny Corbin and watched the young girl sleep soundly, her face was pale, drops of sweat her visible on her brow even at such a face distance.

"She's stable.. For now." Wilson had somehow crept up behind House, "Any idea what could be doing this?"

"I've got them doing tests on the spores they found in the vent," House said quietly, "The x-rays aren't back yet on the mother's lungs."

"Is it true? The house?"

House nodded awkwardly and tried to push the description of the basement out of his mind, it was no use, Cameron had come back in near tears, Foreman looked as if he would be sick. It had taken quite a few minutes for either of them to calm down long enough to explain to both House and Chase what they had seen.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Call child services probably." House said quietly, "I want to wait till she's stable enough, I'd like to talk to her parents about it too."

"You're going to be asking for trouble you know." Wilson said quietly, "Daniel Corbin has fingers in a lot of pies."

"I don't like pie."

"You don't like Daniel Corbin."

"How did you guess?" House asked as the sarcasm dripped from his voice, "I'd like to stick my cane up his..."

"Maybe there's a reasonable explanation to all of this." Wilson suggested, he winced at the thought of a cane being stuck up anywhere. "Besides, we haven't talked to Jenny yet, maybe there's something else."

"You seem oddly determined to not have me confront the abusing prick..." House muttered.

"I'm oddly concerned about your safety, apparently that's what a friend is supposed to do."

"You know something." House pointed out.

"I...know that Daniel Corbin is coming to the hospital later on today and he's not known as Mister Happy Pants by his friends."

"Spill."

"What?" Wilson asked, "I know nothing, I'm just giving you a heads up, all right? Don't get into anything unless you're certain, I've heard this guy has a record..."

"For assault by any chance?"

"I don't know, Cuddy wouldn't tell me anything else."

"_Cuddy_ even knows? Good grief."

"Just.. Be careful, this kid is not good news from what I've heard, get her better and out of here..."

'_And on a bus to New York.' _House thought bitterly as he continued to watch the young girl from behind the glass.

"Cuddy says she'll do what she can when the guy arrives." Wilson said softly, suddenly toning down his cold and brutally honest words. "But she said to warn you, so that's what I'm doing."

"Thanks, you're a real friend."

xXx

"Aspergillus."

"Bless you," House said as Cameron walked into the conference room with Chase behind her.

"Here." She passed him a large folder. "It fits all the symptoms,"

"X-rays?"

Chase nodded and put them up on the glowing window for all to see. At firs the image seemed clear enough, two perfectly healthy lungs, no shadows, no unseemly blotches of darkness. Everything about Gloria Corbin's chest cavity seemed healthy until... House stood up, limped over to the x-ray and squinted at it.

"There's the little bugger," House muttered, "Aspergillosis." He said firmly, turning to face the other doctors, "A fungal infection caused by the Aspergillus spore, found in the air vents in the house."

"But Jenny is presenting stronger symptoms." Chase pointed out, "She and her mother have been breathing the same air..."

"Jenny's vent was right over her bed," Cameron said quickly, "She was breathing the spores in every night."

"I want a chest x-ray of the kid as well." House said as he pulled the first down, "Her mother's condition isn't too far gone, start her on amphotericin B, start Jenny on it too until we get the x-rays back, she's presenting worse, she may need stronger meds."

There was a dull silence in the room for a moment, for once, House hadn't danced around the answer, teasing them with possibilities and solutions. Instead he had gotten straight to the point, and further more, he had even referred to a patient by her name.

"Well go!" House snapped, "You think the fungus is going to wait? Go! And get someone to their house to clean the place."

xXx

"Mr. Corbin, you must understand my position on the information the doctors received..."

"You entered my house without permission, I think that states enough for a lawyer."

"Your daughter gave them permission." Cuddy lied and hoped that House would be able to talk the young girl into following the tale. "And what was found there was fairly disturbing. Your basement..."

"Is a rec room, I'm not sure what your doctors _think_ they saw..."

"My doctors are going to need therapy after what they witnessed, I'm obligated to call the police and child services."

Daniel Corbin smirked and brushed back his dark brown hair, his neatly trimmed suit did not have a single crease, it was almost disgusting how neat the man looked. "I assure you Doctor Cuddy, any calling of the police is fine with me, have them search my whole house if you'd like, they won't find anything incriminating and certainly no sign of any abuse."

"And your daughters black eye-?"

"Jenny has been dating a rather unfortunate young man lately, I'm afraid he's the culprit, I've told her to stop seeing him but.. Well he's smitten with her I suppose."

Cuddy raised her brow in curiosity, "Well," She said finally, "I _will_ have to contact the police and they will want to search your house. I'm sorry if this will cause you trouble."

"Not at all Doctor, I just want to see my wife and little girl get well again."

Cuddy said nothing but instead forced a small smile on her lips, determined not to show the man the anger which was boiling within her and which he wanted to see.

"We've started them both on the appropriate medication, they should be on the road to recovery..."

xXx

"... That man is a complete ass, I've never met such a pompous twit in all my life!"

House and Wilson exchanged nervous looks as Cuddy stood over them in the conference room, fire raging in her eyes.

"You had better hope that when the cops show up there.. They find something because so help me god, if you are putting me on House..."

"Why would I joke about something so serious?"

"I don't know." Cuddy collapsed on a chair and sighed, "This is ridiculous, I can't believe I had to call the cops on one of my nurses... You had better watch your back, everyone, Daniel Corbin is creepy."

"I don't think-..." House began to speak when the door to the conference room opened and Chase walked in, followed by Cameron and Foreman.

"You might want to see this."

He put the x-ray he held in his hand against the lit board, there was a moment of complete silence as House stared at the film.

"That's...what's her faces lung x-ray?" He asked quietly.

Chase nodded, "It is."

"Oh my god..." Wilson said, "There must be... twenty spores in her lungs."

"Taking over her lungs is more like it." House muttered, "This is putting the 'fun' back in 'fungus'."

"How the hell can this happen?" Cuddy asked quietly.

"Why don't you ask Daniel Corbin?" House limped toward the film and stared at it with awe, "He seems to have an answer for everything."

The lungs of Jenny Corbin were shadows upon shadows, one would almost assume her lungs were not there, they were speckled with dark patches. In all his years as a doctor, House had not seen such an advanced case of the fungus disease.

"The meds are helping Gloria, she's awake, her husband is with her now." Cameron said quietly, "Jenny's BP has fallen over the hour, she's still coughing up blood, the amphotericin B is having no effect."

"No wonder, all those spores are choking the kid."

"They're going to have to be surgically removed, look at that one," House pointed to one the size of a pinky nail, "That could starts bleeding at any moment. Prep her for surgery, Chase, how's your math?"

"Well, it's good but-..."

"Good, start counting these little buggers, I want every single one taken out."

Chase could only roll his eyes and start counting while House stood back and observed the x-ray from afar.

"You could try her on Itraconazole." Wilson suggested, "Next best thing to amphotericin B."

"What we need to do is find out how long she's been living with this," House muttered, "It hits people with deficient immune systems, just like this."

"Are you thinking that there might be something bigger behind it?" Cameron asked as she walked up beside Chase, who was busy counting the right lung.

"It's a possibility," House replied. "All right, Foreman, go prep her. If you run into her parents, tell them _everything_, don't leave anything to their imagination. I want to see just how concerned they really are."

"Are you sure you want to-..."

"Do _not_ mess with me right now." House snapped at Wilson, "I am not in a happy 'lets be positive and have group hugs' mood at the moment!"

"You're never in the 'lets be happy and have group hugs' mood." Wilson muttered as her stood up and left the conference room, obviously a bit offended by House's rude snap, he had only been trying to help.

"I'll go prep her," Foreman said swiftly, obviously not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

"I'll... help." Cameron quickly followed him out of the room.

House sat back down, disgruntled and now even more confused about the situation, he didn't mind showing his fear for the young girl, nor did he mind the idea of finding Mister Corbin and showing him the many ways a cane could enter a body and then be surgically removed again.

_Tap, tap, tap_... his cane went on the floor, _tap, tap, tap_...There was something much more to all of this, something he could not see.

xXx

"How much did she tell them?" Gloria's voice was weak and slightly hoarse, she coughed slightly but there was a bit more colour in her cheeks.

"I'm not sure, it may be a fair amount, some doctors were over at the house and saw the basement." Gloria opened her mouth to reply, her face was full of sudden fear. "Don't worry," Daniel added, "I called in a favour or two, when the cops go over there, they won't find anything."

"She's costing us everything..." Gloria murmured, "What are we going to do?"

"You let me handle it," Daniel smiled wickedly, an evil gleam in his dark brown eyes, "Doctors are prepping her right now, I'll have a little ... chat with her after."


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Haha It puts the fun back in fungus, I killed myself for like thirty minutes last night when I came up with that line. Hahah.

"Surgery?" Jenny gaped weakly at Foreman, "You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish we were." Cameron said from the other side of the young girls hospital bed, "But you've got a lot of these little spores in you that we have to take out."

"What...would happen if you didn't take them out?"

"They would continue to grow, eventually they would start bleeding into your lungs." As foreman spoke he gave Cameron a weary glance. "I know, surgery is a scary thing, but it's the best bet for you."

"Can't... you just give me the medication, like the stuff you gave my mom?"

"We tried." Cameron said, "But it had no effect on your body, the chances are you're immune to it, or there are too many spores for the medication to do its job. Either way we need to take them out."

The young girl, despite her very pale face and obvious terror, nodded bravely and swallowed her fear.

"Don't worry, we'll be beside you the whole time." Cameron said with a small smile as she sat on the edge of the girls' bed, "That's a pretty bracelet." Cameron motioned to a small silver chain which hung loosely around the girls thin wrist.

"Thanks," Jenny smiled slightly, "A friend gave it to me..."

There was a knock on the door and the two doctors turned to see who was there. Jenny tensed up and Cameron knew immediately who the man was. Daniel Corbin stood in the doorway, a small smile on his face, an air of snobbery radiated off of him.

"How's the little patient?" He smiled broadly as he walked forward, he gave Cameron chills up her spine.

"We're just prepping her for surgery." Foreman said, trying to maintain a professional attitude despite his loathing for Daniel Corbin. "It should be a simple procedure, but she'll have to be in the hospital for a while after."

"That's fine. As long as she's safe."

xXx

"There was nothing there." Cuddy's voice was oddly calm and cool as she walked into House's office and stared at the doctor who was in the middle of another game of solitaire. "The police searched the place for three hours, they checked every room, every dark corner-..."

"Every broom closet?"

"There was nothing there, House. The basement _was _a rec room, Jennifer's room is upstairs, they found it plastered with posters, Cosmos laying everywhere. It was a teenage girl's room. What the hell are you trying to pull, House?"

"Nothing," House put the ace of diamonds above the cards and continued to look over his game. "You were told what Cameron and Foreman saw, you chose to act on it. Not my fault if the bastard is able to pull some strings and get the place made over in..." He checked his watch, "Oh, about forty-five minutes. Talk about your fixer uper."

"I'm going to have the board on me like a grass fire." Cuddy snapped, "The police are pissed beyond belief and Corbin is demanding a public apology, what do you suggest I do?"

"Buy him a fruit basket and forget the whole thing?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you understand the repercussions of this? This is _bad_ House, this is very, very bad. They tore apart the man's home for nothing!"

"It wasn't for nothing, he just dusted a few objects and made it look more homely." House sighed and put the handful of cards down. "Do you think Foreman and Cameron were lying?"

"I don't know any more!" Cuddy snapped, "As far as I can tell it's just a severely dysfunctional family with a problematic daughter..."

"Yes, it's amazing how teens these days are able to fake black eyes, I remember back in my day, a person would have to go all the way to the ghetto just to get a good bruise."

"House-..."

"These days, you can get 'instant bruise', just add half a cup of water and a good witty remark."

"House!" Cuddy yelled, "You think I like the idea of letting him get away with this?"

"Well it's looks like-..."

"I don't," Cuddy said swiftly, "But there is nothing we can do, he's covering his tracks, unless someone can get Jenny to say that she is in fact being abused, there is nothing..."

"She won't." House said, "She's too scared of facing him."

"I... can't do anything." Cuddy said finally, "I want to but there...there is nothing we can do."

House sighed bitterly and shrugged his shoulders, "Then I guess that's it."

"Just... get her better." Cuddy said quietly, "I'll keep trying... I don't know what, but something."

xXx

House had been limping toward the post-op waiting room when he spotted a young man looking rather lost, a pained look on his face, sheer fear and worry. In an instant he recognized the man, not only as the guitarist at the bar but the boy 'Spencer' whom Jenny had planned to run away with.

"She's in surgery." House said simply as he passed by the boy, "I'm going to the post-op if you want to come."

The boy struggled a moment to comprehend what the doctor had just told him, there was no time to ask any questions, House was already down the hallway. Spencer simply sighed and followed without raising his voice.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Aspergillosis." House said as he desperately tried to fight back the ghosts on his pac-man game.

"What's tha-..."

"Fungal infection. Her case is pretty advanced."

"Is she going to be okay?"

House shrugged as he struggled against the blue ghosts, "It's hard to say... There may be something else wrong with her as well."

"How can you tell?"

"Aspergillosis effects people with already compromised immune systems. She has a very advanced case, it's hard to believe nothing else is wrong with her."

"Can you figure out what it is?"

"When will you know?"

"We'll have to wait at least a day or two till after her surgery before we can perform any tests, we need to find a proper medication to control the infection as well."

The post-op waiting room was deathly quiet apart from the beeping coming from the game. Spencer sat across from House, his hands were clutched tightly together, he looked weary...

"You didn't stay in New York very long." House noted as he battled through the game. "Didn't trust her to come or did you hear she was sick?"

"How did you-..."

"Magic."

Spencer heaved a grand sigh, "I got to the place we were staying and got a call from Danny, our drummer, he told me she was in the hospital."

"So how long has she been abused for?"

"She's not abused." Spencer said quietly.

"What is this?" House demanded as he snapped his game shut, "Some kind of government conspiracy, is she a spy? Did she suffer some sort of terrible interrogation? Did you hit her?"

"No!" Spencer said sharply, "I would never-..."

"Did her father hit her?"

"No." The young boy said firmly, "It doesn't matter okay? As soon as she's better, we're both getting out of here, I'm not letting her stay..."

House rolled his eyes at the boy's foolish childhood innocence and pulled out his Vicodin. Popping another pill in his mouth, he prayed that the numbing effect of the drug would kick in soon. He didn't like the feeling of not knowing what to do or what to say.

"You probably shouldn't be here," House said quietly, "Her father's hanging around the place."

"If I see that bastard..." Spencer muttered, "I'm going to rip his head from his shoulders..."

"Now this is what I don't understand, you obvious dislike the man a bit."

"Hate." Spencer corrected.

"Now, hate is such a strong word."

"That's why I choose to use it."

"Yeah, can't say I blame you." House muttered, "You hate him so much, and you're telling me the guy hasn't abused Jenny at all?"

"I'm allowed to hate whoever I want."

"Yeah, you are." House replied, "But if there's something we can use to help her get out of here then you should tell someone..."

"Listen, there's nothing all right?" Spencer snapped, "Just leave it alone..."

"Doctor House?"

Both boy and Doctor looked up to see a middle-aged man in aqua green scrubs.

"Doctor Macklin, how is she?"

"There were problems during surgery..." Doctor Macklin said slowly, "Her BP began to fall drastically, we had to close before we could remove all the spores."

"How many did you get?"

"Twenty-two, we managed to fish out all the major ones, anyone that looked as if it would cause a risk was taken out, but I won't be able to go back in to remove any until she's healthier. I told the nurse to start her Itraconazole, I'm not sure how effective it will be."

"What do you mean?"

"Itraconazole is a general fungal infection treatment, it works just fine but with such a strange case I'm guessing she didn't respond to the meds to begin with because she's become resistant to the drug."

"Caspofungin?" House asked.

"That's the next best bet." Doctor Macklin agreed, "But we'll try the Itraconazole to start with."

"Is... She going to be okay?" Spencer asked meekly from his spot on the rather uncomfortable hospital chair.

"We'll see," Doctor Macklin said kindly, "It's going to be rough for her."

"Thanks Doc," House said, "Come on kid, let's go check your bonnie lass."

xXx

"There you are, you little whore..." Daniel Corbin stood over his still unconscious daughter. The soft beeping from the heart monitor filled the room, Jenny was just as pale, if not more than from before the surgery. "How much did you tell them Jenny? Do you want to ruin what's left of your life?" He leaned down and gently brushed a curly brown lock away from her face, "You're lucky I was able to fix everything before the police got there, it wouldn't do you any good to have our secret found out."

"Well, if it isn't Daniel Corbin." House walked through the open doorway into Jenny's room, Spencer trailing behind him.

"You must be Doctor House," Daniel Corbin smiled broadly, it was a gift, the ability to turn on his charm came naturally. "And Spencer, how are you?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Spencer hissed quietly.

"Is that any way to talk to the father of your girlfriend?" Daniel asked in a bemused voice, "Really Doctor House, I thought they had warned you about this boy's abusive nature."

"Abusive?" Spencer scoffed, "You've got to be kidding me..."

"I've told you time and again," Daniel began advancing slightly on the young man, "Stay the hell away from my daughter."

"All right," House put out his cane in between Daniel and Spencer, "You've seen her, she's alive, this is the part where you get out so the angry father doesn't rip you to pieces."

Spencer stayed and glared at Daniel for a moment longer before turning on his heel, and leaving the room in a huff. Daniel looked thoroughly pleased with himself and went back to his daughter's side. House, on the other hand, was only more angered by everything that was going on. He decided it was best to forget Wilson and Cuddy's warning about Daniel Corbin and instead find some way to deal with the father.

"She's in bad shape." House said quietly, he wondered how much reaction he would get from Corbin by enhancing just how sick Jenny was. "It's going to be a challenge to get her fully recovered."

"Well I'm sure she's getting the best care possible." Corbin said softly, his eyes not leaving his daughter. "I would like to get her home though... how soon?"

"Not for a while yet." House replied icily, "In fact, she may be here a month or longer."

"Is that really necessary?"

"We think it's best." House said, "That way you can take the time and _clean_ your home, so this won't happen again."

"I suppose you believe the rumours too then?" Corbin asked. "That she's been abused?"

"I really don't know."

"She's a very eccentric child, You shouldn't believe anything she says, it's not... _healthy_."

"It's not healthy to believe in fairytales either," House replied, "But they're just so intriguing."

"I assure you Doctor House," Corbin said thoughtfully, as he finally looked up and made eye contact. "My daughter is doing just fine in the home she is in, there's no need to get yourself pulled into what could become a very messy situation."

"I'll wear gloves." House retorted. "Lysol kills ninety nine percent of all bacteria, you're the one percent I'm worried about."

Daniel Corbin smiled wickedly, "Don't get yourself involved Doctor, It's not worth it."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay, sentimental moment, that you so, so much to each and every reviewer, I really had doubts when I started to write this but the support I've received from all of you has really pushed me forward! Thank you, each and every one:) PS: If you want to listen to a good song that fits the Jenny and Spencer moment in this chapter try "The Luckiest" By Ben Folds Five

"She's not responding to the Itraconazole."

House banged his head on the conference table repeatedly as Chase spoke. All three doctors looked at their boss with worry as the head banging continued.

"Why... me?" He muttered over and over again. "Why do I always get threatened by the mobsters?"

"Corbin threatened you?" Foreman asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "That guy is really messed up."

"Wasn't so much a threat as a very blunt warning not to get involved in the private life of the Corbin family." House replied as he sat up, "Apparently I'll regret it."

"Didn't the police find anything when they searched the house?" Cameron asked.

"They found a happy, American, home." House sighed and looked over at the whiteboard, "No sign of any abuse."

"Her BP is falling." Chase continued his update on Jenny's condition, "And she's still vomiting and experiencing dizzy spells."

"Because the Itraconazole isn't working, probably." Foreman replied, "We should start her on Caspofungin."

"Do you actually think he'd go through with any of his threats?" Cameron asked in a low whisper as she sat beside House.

"Wouldn't put it passed him," Was the low reply, "You'd all better be careful. For now, no going any deeper into whatever this family is hiding. Let's focus on getting her better."

"I don't like that Daniel Corbin." Chase muttered, "He creeps me out."

"Oh good, I thought it was just me." House said, "Well good, now we've decided he's creepy we can have him arrested."

"No need for the sarcasm," Chase said, "I was just expressing my opinion."

"Just... go start her on the Caspofungin." House muttered, "And if Corbin is in her room, get him out."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, lie to him. Tell him his rec room's on fire, that should get him moving fast enough."

Chase rolled his eyes as he left the room, Cameron and Foreman remained behind with House, an awkward silence filled the empty space as no one knew exactly what to say. The whiteboard was covered with random notes and symptoms that had shown over the past few days. Never had House seen the board so full of random thoughts regarding the patient, it seemed as if this was one of the strangest cases he had ever faced, not because of the disease, but because of the patients' life. He had never imagined he would become so involved...

"I wonder what makes a family become so broken," Cameron said thoughtfully as she gazed off into space. "What makes' parents become so full of hate for their own child."

"It runs in the family." House replied, "You grow up knowing hate, it's the only emotional response you can give to another human being. It's one long and winding road of angry childhoods, bitter divorces and crappy Christmas's where you don't get the present you wanted."

"You think that'll be the way Jenny will turn out?" Foreman asked as he took a sip of his bitter coffee and winced at the aged taste.

"Depends on her own will." House said, "How long can she focus on the positive."

"Why are you so obsessive over this?" Cameron asked suddenly, "Usually you decide whether or not you worry about a patient before you even know their first symptoms. What makes Jenny so special?"

"Oh, she just got to me I suppose," House shrugged.

"She helped you get out of clinic duty." Foreman corrected.

"That too. You know a good patient by how they react when you tell them they're sick."

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked.

"If a patient comes to you all loud, complaining and mean then there is a high chance that they will be obnoxious, annoying throughout the treatment, and probably just make you, the doctor even more bitter than when you first started. If a patient tries to take care of him or herself, and doesn't want to be in the way or cause problems, then you can probably guarantee that they won't cause you problems."

"So that would make Jenny a..."

"Good patient." House said, "Plus, she doesn't take a lot of room in the hospital. I was thinking of maybe buying a Jenny of my own and using her as a lawn ornament."

"That... was really tasteless." Foreman said in disbelief.

"I couldn't help it, I was getting sentimental, my doctor says emotions are bad for my health."

"What's with the 'thirteen'?" Cameron asked suddenly as she looked at the whiteboard and noticed the giant **_'THIRTEEN? WHY'_** written at the bottom beneath all the symptoms.

"It was just a thought," House replied as he began tapping his cane on the ground once more, "She mentioned that she had been living with it for thirteen years."

"So?" Foreman asked.

"She's fifteen," House explained, "Why only thirteen?"

"So... something happened thirteen years ago that changed the way her parents treated her?" Cameron asked.

"Could be," House muttered, "Doesn't matter for now, we just need to focus on getting her better."

xXx

Spencer had waited for an hour and a half for Daniel Corbin to leave Jenny's room, he had hidden himself at the nurses' station behind a newspaper. A number of times, one of the four doctors treating Jenny had walked by, and although he was certain that they had seen him, no one raised the alarm. There was an unspoken agreement between the young man and the hospital staff, they would hide him as best they could from Daniel Corbin, and he would continue to be there for Jenny. It was well-passed midnight and the halls were quiet, visiting hours were over long ago, Spencer didn't mind, he was determined to not let Jenny out of his sight.

"Jenny? Jen? You awake?" He stood in the doorway for a moment, unsure if the girl was awake or not.

"Hmm?" Her eyes flickered open and a slight smile reached her lips. "Spence... Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I got to New York and Danny called, he said you were in the hospital." Spencer sat beside Jenny and gently held her hand. "I came back as soon as I could..."

"Has... my dad seen you yet?"

"Yeah." Spencer grinned, "Don't worry, that Doctor House sort of took care of it for now. What happened?"

"I don't know..." Jenny admitted, "I was feeling kind of sick so I went to get some air and I just...collapsed, it felt like someone was dragging all the air out of my body."

"Are the meds helping?"

Jenny nodded weakly, "They've stopped the coughing, that's gotta be a good sign, right?"

"You still look like shit Jenny,"

"Thanks," she muttered, "You're a regular Prince Charming."

"Sorry, but it's true."

"Well I just got out of surgery a few hours ago," Jenny reminded him, "Give me a day or two and we'll be out of here."

"No way," Spencer whispered, "Stay here until you're in perfect condition Jenny, I'll see if I can get that doctor to keep you in a few days extra so we can leave without your parents noticing."

"Relax Spencer, I'll be here for a while yet." Jenny closed her eyes and smiled, "God I'm going to miss Jersey, how stupid does that sound?"

"It doesn't sound that stupid, this is your home, it's where you've grown up..."

"This house isn't a home Spencer," whispered Jenny, "God I can't take it... I can't handle it anymore. This place has broken me..." Tears developed in the corner of Jenny's eyes. She tried desperately to force them away but soon enough the tears of thirteen years broke through her solid barrier, letting her frozen emotions at last run her down.

Spencer leaned down and rested his head next to hers, wrapping his secure arms around her frail body and holding her tight, someone had to after all.

"I know... I know... I'll take you away from here, I promise I will."

House was wandering the hospital hallways, unable to sleep, when he passed by Jenny's room. Now, he was a man who rarely smiled, if ever, but the sight he witnessed was one that even the coldest statue of a person would break to. Spencer gently held Jenny in his arms, and although his words were not audible, House understood the moment between them. It was something only experienced by people with much more age and wisdom behind them. Yet there they were, two people very much in love, who were willing to go through hell and high water just to keep the little joy they had.

With a satisfied sigh, House limped back to his office, he would not be going home that night, instead he would make camp in his office and if sleep graced him that night, it would be a luxury.

"We'll get out of here, won't we Spence?"

"We will Jenny, I promise..."

"Do you remember the first night at the bar?"

"How could I forget?" Spencer smiled, "I thought you were an angel."

"I want to live like that song, Spencer, It was meant for you and me..."

"_I don't get many things right the first time. In fact, I am told that a lot. Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls brought me here..."_ Spencer whispered quietly.

"_And where was I before the day that I first saw your lovely face? Now I see it every day,"_ Jenny chimed in quietly, _"And I know that I am... I am... I am the luckiest..."_

xXx

"Do you know how much weight she's lost since getting here?" Cameron came into House's office, not realizing that he was actually still asleep in his chair with a comic book over his head. "Fifteen pounds, she's down to ninety-six. She was underweight to begin with..."

"Well feed her..." House mumbled.

"The nurses have been trying, she's not hungry and anything she does eat ends up in a bucket fifteen minutes later!"

"It could be a reaction to the Caspofungin, lower her dosage for the time being, if there's an improvement then we'll know."

"And what about food?"

House moaned and removed the comic book from his head, "I'll talk to her, anyone in her room right now?"

"No."

"Good," His body creaked in protest as he stood up and stretched, "I don't like others to hear the patients scream." He said with a slightly crazed look in his eyes.

House wasn't sure, but he thought he may have heard Cameron mutter something along the lines of 'insane' as he left his office.


	10. Chapter 10

"Glad to see you awake." House said as he closed the door to Jenny's room. The young girl was as pale as ever but conscious nevertheless. "You're little sickness is annoying."

"Well someone has to keep you employed." Jenny retorted quietly.

House nodded awkwardly as he limped over to her bed and stared down at the girl, "Why aren't you eating?"

"I thought maybe I'd try to not eat for a while." Jenny said, "As an experiment, you know, to see what happens."

"Well the results are coming in," he said slowly, "You're underweight and dropping, would you like to know how painful it is to die from malnutrition?"

"You think this is my choice?" Jenny asked softly, "Like I just woke up and decided not to eat? I have no appetite, every time I do try to eat something it ends out outside of me."

"Still dizzy?" House asked.

"Yes." Jenny said bitterly, suddenly quite put off by House's cruel tactics.

"Listen," House sat down on a chair across from Jenny and stared at the young girl, who refused to meet his gaze. "I can't help you, none of us can help you unless you begin to tell us what's going on."

"You don't want to get involved in this..." Jenny muttered, "Just, stay out of it, okay?"

"Do you want to die? Is that it?" House demanded, "What, you think you're ready for death? Have you accepted it as unavoidable fate for you? It comes to us all but dammit, you have sometime left so why the hell are you putting yourself in such a position!"

"It's not a choice," Jenny whispered, "You think I want to stay here, or even at that house? Why do you think I was running away? I was doing it so people like you wouldn't have to get involved . . . "

"People like me? Me being a doctor? Is that it? Do you not trust doctors?"

"Just . . . keep out of it! It doesn't concern you."

"Fine." House stood up, unwilling to accept defeat at the moment but certainly willing to find a better way to go about convincing the young patient. "But you know, we could find a way to protect you, people could be hired. It's your choice, your death, no skin off my back if your body shows up in the morgue."

"Doctor House." He turned around as the voice of Jenny, suddenly much stronger than he ever remembered, filled the room. "By the time your words turn into actions, it would be too late anyway. So what's the point in trying?"

"Maybe a little bit of faith."

"I don't know what faith is any more."

"Then," House said quietly, "You're obviously much different from I thought."

He didn't turn around as he left the room, but if he had, House would have seen Jenny turn on her side and curl up, tears streaming once more down her face.

xXx

"Now I remember why I love not knowing patients," House hobbled into the conference room and fell into a chair, "I don't give a crap about them or their personal lives and I can do my job without hassle."

"So, no good news from Jenny then?" Chase asked.

"She's a stubborn teenage girl who thinks she's invincible." House muttered, exaggerating the young girls' personality to sooth his own aching soul and ego. "From now on, I stay in my office, I'm going to remained penned up so I don't have to associate with patients.. Ever again."

"What about clinic duty?"

"I'll buy a stunt double, someone who can handle all the stupid, self-centred, patients with small things stuck up random orifices and the screaming children."

"Was it really that painful?" Cameron asked from her laptop.

"Cuddy is right, don't get involved any further, let's treat this kid and get her out of the hospital before she causes any more problems."

Chase and Cameron exchanged glances but said nothing as House stormed off into his adjoining office. He sat behind his desk for a moment before holding his head in his hands, a migraine was fast upon him, at least that was the excuse he would use if someone asked. Truthfully, he almost felt guilty for having to yell at such a weak child, still, he did not regret his choice of words.

xXx

"You'd think he'd show just a little compassion for someone in her condition," Cameron murmured as she, Chase and Foreman walked down the hallway.

"He's House, he doesn't do compassion." Foreman pointed out, "Makes you wonder why he's always riding us for getting emotionally involved with a patient."

"It compromises our ability to look at the disease." Chase replied, "But really, hands up whoever doesn't feel the smallest amount of pity for the kid."

"I don't see how we can just go about our jobs while ignoring all the facts!" Cameron said.

"We're doctors, we have to practice objective thinking," Foreman replied, "Without it she-..."

His thought was cut off by the sound of by a beeper, he reached into his white lab coat and pulled it out, as he did, Cameron's went off, followed by Chase's. They traded worried looks, knowing who the patient was that they had to respond to, they raced down the hall toward Jenny's room.

The nurse stood by Jenny's bed, in complete silence, she was frozen to the spot and unable to act. Jenny was curled up, her arms protectively over her abdomen, small suppressed groans escaped her lips as beads of sweat fell down her face, her hair was damp. Cameron instinctively went to put her hand on the young girl, she quickly pulled away as she touched the burning skin.

"We need ice in here, she's burning up!"

"Jenny, where does it hurt?"

"My... my stomach." Was all the youth could manage, she cried out in pain as a second bolt of ache ripped through her body and to her back.

"We need ice in here right now!"

"What the hell is going on?"

"Increased her morphine drip, it'll be all right Jenny . . . just stay with us, okay? Stay with us Jenny..."

"Her BP is falling! 82 over 56!"

"Jenny . . . Jenny!"

House had limped over toward Jenny's room when his beeper had gone off, when he arrived he found a familiar sight. Cameron, Foreman and Chase, all struggling with one aspect of whatever was killing this young girl, desperately trying to save her. It was a sight that no longer made House's stomach turn, but for some reason, as he saw them desperately search for life, House gave up a silent prayer to whoever was listening to spare Jenny . . . Just a bit longer.

xXx

"She's unconscious," Chase said as he walked into House's office, followed by Foreman, "Cameron is with her now. I think it's time to consider that there may be something else wrong with her."

"Apart from the fact she's crazy?" House asked as he flipped through an Archie comic, "You know, I don't see why Archie and the gang never graduate, how many times can they fail grade twelve?"

"The Itraconazole has helped some of the Aspergillosis symptoms," Foreman said, "But it hasn't helped her fever, her BP is holding steady at 84 over 53."

"And why can't he just choose between Betty and Veronica? He's playing them like a card game."

"Are..are you listening to any of this?" Chase demanded, "This kid is going to die, she has a fever of 100.4 and it's slowly rising, and we don't know what's going on."

"The kid's made a choice," House said from behind his comic book, "Who am I to get in the way of it?"

"What's wrong with you?" Foreman demanded, "The kid has a few problems, she's lost sight of her faith so you decide you're just going to give up on her? You want her to apologize for being human just like you? Tough, she's unconscious."

House sighed and put down his magazine, "I have this theory, a patient wants to give up then let them, it'll save time and valuable medication and space in the hospital."

"So you're just going to lt her give up on herself?" Chase asked, "Just like that?"

"Nope," House said as he picked up his cane and stood up, "I'm going to fix her and then I'm going to fix her family life."

Foreman and Chase looked at each other and then back to House.

"You're... what?"

"I'm a regular Doctor Phil." House said with a shrug, "Besides, I never listen to what patients want anyway. It's all about me."


	11. Chapter 11

"Cirrhosis of the liver."

"How would she get that?" Chase asked from the table as House jotted '_Cirrhosis of the Liver'_ down on the whiteboard.

"How would she not, living in conditions like that?" Cameron asked.

"Well students, let's look at what causes this little problem, shall we?"

"Wait, are you sure it's Cirrhosis of the Liver?" Foreman asked.

"Of course not." House replied, "But at the moment it's the only thing that matches all the symptoms. Unless of course you'd like to start reading through Webster's Dictionary of Medical Problems, start with the A's and skip the Z's. It's never anything that starts with a Z."

"He's right." Cameron pointed out as she flipped through the nearest medical dictionary to Cirrhosis. "It accounts for all the symptoms. The Abdominal pain, coughing up blood, loss of consciousness..."

"But the weight loss," Chase pointed out, "People with a liver cirrhosis don't lose weight, they usually gain."

"Her condition was fragile when she was brought in," Cameron replied, "She's been starved, her stomach couldn't handle the food we were giving her, no wonder she's been losing weight."

"All right, so suppose it is Cirrhosis of the liver," Foreman said carefully, "How did she get it? She doesn't look like a drinker..."

"Hemochromatosis or Wilson's disease?" Chase suggested.

"Neither of her parents has a history." Cameron replied, "What about acute Hepatitis B?"

"I thought you were trying to convince us that she was different from the rest of the teenage population." House said with a small gleam in his eye.

"It's not that unbelievable." Chase said quickly, "It can be acquired through swapping of fluids or by simply using the same tooth brush as someone who has it."

"If it's acute then there's really nothing we can do, except give her pain meds and hope it rides out." Foreman said.

"Her symptoms are too far gone, if it's acute then she can't fight it off any longer." Cameron said, "We need to get her on the transplant list for a new liver."

"What we need to do," House said, "is take a blood test and while we wait for the results, start her on Interferon, we need those results asap. And while we're running around like mad little ants, let's ask the loving parents how their little girl could have contracted it."

xXx

"...I have no idea," Daniel Corbin said from the chair beside his wife. "She's a very wild girl, there's any number of young men she hangs out with that could be carrying it."

"You mean the band members?" House asked, "Or do you actually allow her to associate with _real_ people outside of her job?"

Daniel Corbin smirked, the smile of a man who was confident enough in his position in society to act suspicious and get away with anything. "My daughter lives a perfectly normal life for a teenage girl..."

"Right, apart from the bumps and bruises, the being locked in the basement and the performing in a bar every night. It's a pity too." House said, "She's got real talent, so did you think you could get extra cash for her voice by whoring her out after every performance?"

"You watch your tone doctor," Daniel Corbin said suddenly, "I would never do something like that to my daughter."

"Wouldn't do what? Lock her in a basement or sell her on the streets? You could get quite a little company set up..." House knew he was treading on thin ice but found himself even more amused by Daniel Corbin's reaction with each passing moment. "Sorry if I offended you, I was... well you know." House's sarcasm became apparent to Corbin as soon as he continued talking, "I was just trying to find out who made your daughter sick, but no worries, obviously I've treaded into the most perfect American family. How could anything in your home be wrong?"

As House limped out of the room, he caught a glance of Spencer, still hiding from Daniel Corbin.

"Hey kid, come on, I want to talk to you about your relationship."

"What?" Spencer asked as House gripped his elbow and dragged him out of view of Gloria Corbin's room.

"You and I, I'm worried about us, you never call me any more." House replied as stopped and stared at the young man, "Jenny, how long have you known her?"

"Since she moved here a year and a half ago." Spencer said, "Why?"

"And how many bases have you run?"

"What?"

"How far have you gone?"

"What are you talking about?"

House rolled his eyes, "You really are a prince charming, how close have you gotten to having sex?"

"**What!**"

"Trust you, this is relevant to getting your little girlfriend out of here and out of this city, How far have you gotten?"

"Not... far at all. We're both waiting, until she's ready. We've, y'know, kissed and stuff..."

"And the and stuff would include..."

"Holding hands,"

"You teens these days, no wonder there are so many teenage pregnancies, people like you need to be handcuffed to stop from jumping every member of the opposite sex that you see." House sighed.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why is it important?"

"We think she contracted chronic hepatitis B from someone or somewhere, we need to find... What?" As House began explaining, the young man before him went deathly white.

"Hepatitis B?"

"Yes."

"What are you giving her to treat it?"

"...Interferon, why?"

"She's allergic to it!" Spencer hissed under his breath.

House gave him a curious look and opened his mouth to reply when his pager went off, he looked at the small device _'Jenny, Code Blue.'_

"Come on." House said.

"She's going into anaphylactic shock!" Cameron said as she checked the monitor beside Jenny's bed. "Her O2 stats are dropping!" The young girl wheezed and struggled to get a single reasonable amount of air into her lungs.

"We need to get her intubated!" Chase said as he grabbed an endotracheal tube and carefully began forcing it down the young girls' throat. "She's swelling shut..."

"Get ten cc's of adrenaline!" Foreman said swiftly, "Anything?"

"We're in, bag her."

Spencer and House had just approached the room as Chase had gotten the tube into Jenny's throat, the young man remained frozen to his spot, gazing through the glass as the doctors worked to desperately keep her alive. House entered and relaxed as the sound of the heart monitor began to even out into a less than rapid pace.

"She had an allergic reaction to the Interferon." Cameron said as she stepped away from the bed and allowed Chase to pump the air into Jenny's lungs.

"I know." House replied, "The question is, how did the kid know?"

"What do you mean?"

"He knew she would have an allergic reaction even before my pager went off."

"Well, he is her boyfriend..."

"Even bigger question is, how did _she_ know, unless she already has Hepatitis B."

"There's nothing on her chart," Cameron said as she flickered through the papers that were held on the clipboard, "Up till a few days ago she was perfectly healthy."

"Right, well, I'm going to have another talk with the boyfriend and see if I can get his little horny mouth to tell me something that might be helpful."

xXx

"I told you, I don't..."

"Oh cut the crap!" House exclaimed. He had successfully dragged the young man away from Jenny's room and down to the clinic where he took refuge in one of the exam rooms. "You and your girlfriend have this all planned out don't you? Tell no one, say nothing and you can get out of here without having to cross any lines or run any risks! It makes perfect sense! But guess what, you've given yourself away, either you start talking or I'll start siphoning your blood pint by pint so I can do a billion unnecessary tests until I find what the hell is wrong with you!"

"I'm not trying to make trouble for you!" Spencer protested, "I just want to get Jenny out of here..."

"Well, until we start getting some genuine answers, we're going to keep guessing wrong and she's only going to get sicker and sicker so you'd better start giving some answers. I'm not asking for her darkest secret, I'm asking you, how do you know she's allergic to Interferon?"

"I can't... I promised."

"This has something to do with her father doesn't it?" House asked, "I assure you, it won't leave this room, I just need to know, does she, or does she not have Hepatitis B?"

"No, she doesn't." Spencer said icily as he began to stand up, "Now can I go?"

"No," House whipped out his cane in front of the young man and poked him back down onto the chair. "How do you know she doesn't?"

"Because... she was tested for it."

"When?"

"Before she moved here, I wasn't there but she told me a few months ago. That was when we decided to leave."

"Why was she tested?"

"I really shouldn't..."

"We'll you've started the story dad, it's not fair to leave a kid like me hanging just as the noble prince rides up on his white steed to rescue the damsel in distress..."

"Will you cut the sarcasm for just a minute?" Spencer asked, "This isn't a joke, you can't... you can't joke about things like this."

"Like what?"

"There were incidents..." Spencer said quietly, "Before they moved here, he had been doing it for years and... she started getting sick just before they came so he got her tested."

"Who's he?"

"Her father... son of a bitch..."

"He... hurt her?"

"He more than hurt her." Spencer said bitterly. "It started with abuse, getting knocked around, then it escalated, Jenny started fighting back."

"So he... raped her?"

Spencer nodded glumly.

"Did she tell anyone?"

"She told the doctor who was taking her blood for the Hepatitis test... Daniel Corbin had such a great reputation where they were as a donator in the medical community that the doctor didn't believe her."

"And the tests?"

"They came back negative, but Jenny kept getting worse so they took her to another clinic run by one of Corbin's friends. They gave her Interferon and she had an allergic reaction, it almost killed her."

"And then they moved here." House finished. Suddenly the world of Jenny Corbin became very clear to him, and her harsh words earlier seemed perfectly justified.

Spencer nodded, "My band and I were performing at the bar, Corbin hooked it up with the manager so she'd perform with us. Within a few weeks we all knew about her, I think she was so grateful to have someone actually believe her. We'd all been saving up to get out of Jersey, we decided to ask Jenny along."

"And she's had these symptoms, the fatigue, nausea, weight loss... since you met her?"

"Since I met her."

"Wow." Was all House could say.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet." House replied, "Get her better, heal all the wounds."

"Are you going to have them arrest Corbin and his wife?"

"Corbin, sure, there's enough pointing at him. Gloria will probably get off scot-free."

"Why? She knew all about it."

"I don't get to decide who gets arrested, for now, don't leave Jenny's side. She said Corbin would work fast..."

"He would," Spencer agreed, "He knows all the right people."

"Right," House muttered, "Well this puts a rather unpleasant spin on the whole day, I should have listened to my horoscope, It told me I'd be getting an unexpected surprise at work today. For now, we don't do anything, there's one more thing and I think I finally understand." House looked over at Spencer's shocked face, "Don't worry, He'll be arrested, people like him always get what they deserve."

A/N: Bet you thought that was the climax, just wait another chapter or two...


	12. Chapter 12

"It's not Cirrhosis of the liver and it's not..."

"Hepatitis B," House said as he walked into the conference, his stomach still queasy from his discussion with Spencer only an hour earlier. "So we're back to square one."

"How did you know it's not Hep B?" Chase asked, "We just got the results in a few minutes ago."

"My psychic powers," House replied as he erased every inch of the whiteboard and picked up a blue pen. "I was channelling you as you got the results. Let's start again shall we? Symptoms?"

"Abdominal pain," Cameron said, "Low BP, nausea, weight loss, fatigue."

"All right, so the Caspofungin has taken care of the Aspergillosis for now, her symptoms for that are under control. It's not Cirrhosis of the liver, we've got a biopsy to prove that. What else?"

"Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome?" Chase suggested.

"She started presenting these symptoms over a year ago," House replied, "WPW is an on again off again thing, besides, it wouldn't account for the abdominal pain. Did you get her stable?"

"We have her on the ventilator for now," Foreman said, "The adrenaline should help with the anaphylactic shock. Her BP is still low, fever still rising, in and out of consciousness... It's pretty rough."

"We don't have much more time," Cameron said swiftly, "If she continues this course then she'll be gone within a few days."

"What a quaint way of saying it." House said, "I would have used something more comical, like 'kick the bucket' or 'gone to the happy hunting grounds in the sky.' But I like your way, much more subtle. So what are we going to do to fix her?"

"We need to find out what's frying her brain and body..." Foreman said.

"Flambé," House said, "It's more fun to say. All right, how's Gloria?"

"Recovering just fine," Chase said, "She'll be ready to leave in a few days."

"Okay," House rubbed his weary eyes and looked at the whiteboard, "Start her on etodolac for the abdominal pain, I want you to run tests on her blood again, see what she's missing. Check her white blood cell count again, let's see if the levels can give us a hint at how big this thing is that she's fighting."

Chase and Foreman left the room but Cameron hung back, she had noticed the strange behaviour of House the moment he had walked into the conference room. There was something he had not told the other doctors and she knew it was important.

"So... how did her boyfriend know she was allergic to interferon?"

"She was tested for Hep B over a year ago." House replied as he sat on one of the chairs and continued to stare at the whiteboard.

"It wasn't in her file."

"Yes, well it was one of those curious little facts that wasn't really important enough for her parents to tell us about."

"Why was she tested for it?"

"Her father thought it was necessary."

"But why..."

"Because for the last god knows how many years of her life, he's been sexually abusing her."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah, apparently he was considerate enough to have some tests done and give her the medication even though she didn't need it. She told the doctor who took the first test, apparently no one believed her."

"Explains why she doesn't really trust any of us."

"Well, lets try to clear the general reputation of our practice shall we?" House said, "You guys fix her, I'm going to kick some butt."

"Don't you think calling the police would be a better option?"

"It would." House agreed, "Except she doesn't stay conscious long enough to tell anyone. And it will take time for her to tell any of us, let alone a cop. As she pointed out, by the time words turn into actions, It'll be too late. As long as we keep playing dumb, the caring father will stay around his daughter to make sure she doesn't talk."

"You sound like a mobster."

"No, if I was a mobster, I would have worked something about the godfather into that."

"So what? You're going to wait until she's awake before you have the sicko arrested? What kind of logic is that? He could..."

"The boyfriend's not leaving her side," House said, "For now... that's all we can do. Let's try to find what's wrong, then everyone can get what they deserve."

xXx

"She has low cortisol levels." Chase said as a glossy paper came out from the printer. "That's strange."

"There's about a dozen things that could give a person low Cortisol levels." Foreman said from the other side of the lab, "Her white count is still high, could be from fighting off the fungal infection, could be from whatever's hitting her."

"You think House is getting too emotionally involved in this case?" Chase asked suddenly.

"Definitely," replied Foreman, "But he won't listen, as long as he keeps taking his Vicodin we should be fine."

"Really though, you don't think his judgement has become somewhat compromised by it?"

"I think he feels strongly about patients that suffer abuse when they shouldn't have to, it makes him passionate about his work, you can hardly argue with that."

"Yeah, but with Corbin threatening him, don't you think that maybe he's a bit... I dunno, worried?"

"Worried? House? Let's look at this logically for a moment, do _you_ want to face House in a dark alley in the middle of the night?"

"Good point," Chase muttered, "All right, lets take these results back to him."

xXx

"My... boys feel wrong."

House raised an eyebrow at the middle-aged man sitting in front of him in exam room one. Larry Johnstone was forty-eight years old, balding and slightly portly.

"Your...boys?"

"Uh, yeah, you know. My-..."

"It's okay Larry, I know what you mean. I'm just not sure why I got stuck with you."

House turned and looked out the window to the nurses' station in the clinic, where three nurses and Cuddy were leaning against the counter, smiling and waving at House.

"Ah..." He muttered, "Tell me Larry, how's your wife?"

"What?"

"Your wife, you have a wedding ring, I'm assuming you didn't just dip your ring finger in molten gold for fun."

"She's fine." Larry said, slightly shocked at being asked such a personal question, "Why?"

"You're forty-eight Larry, slightly balding, not exactly in pristine condition. I'm guessing your boys don't feel wrong because you've just experienced three hours of wild sex with your wife. Let me guess, the magic's gone? You've hit the mid life dry spell? No juice left?"

"Well..."

"Forget it," House said, "I don't want to know. I'm going to recommend you see a doctor who has far more patience and actually specializes in this area... literally." House took out a pad of paper, "I'm also going to give you the address of a good gym, getting out and breaking a sweat once every few decades might do you some good."

House glared at Cuddy who was still laughing as he walked out of the exam room.

"Funny, like a fork in the back of the hand." He muttered, "Doctor House, left at five twenty-eight p.m., write that down." He told the nurse. "So what are you doing here? Or have you come to bask in my misfortune of having to deal with some man and his boys?"

"Actually," Cuddy said as she wiped a tear away from her eye, the laughter still in her voice, "I came to ask you how the Corbin kid was doing."

"Not good." House replied grimly, "Fever is still rising fast, BP is low, she has to be on the ventilator because of the reaction she had to the Interferon."

"Any closer to finding out what exactly is wrong with her?"

"I had Chase and Foreman run some tests, still waiting for the results, listen I need to talk to you about her actually. In private."

"All right," Cuddy led him into her office and offered him a seat, House shook his head in decline and wondered where he should begin.

"Well?"

"There's more to her history than we thought..." House said slowly, "She's been sexually abused."

"What?" asked Cuddy, her voice was deathly quiet.

"Her boyfriend told me..."

"Well... he could be lying."

"Right, so the boyfriend just decided he would make up a story for her...why? To protect her? To add a bit more spark to all our lives?"

"Daniel Corbin is a great donator..."

"Oh I don't believe this, he got to you too!" House exclaimed, "How much did this guy pay you to ignore his blunt indiscretions?"

"Oh relax." Cuddy said sharply, "He just donated some money, I didn't know about any of this..." She paused and heaved a great sigh. "What do you want me to do?"

"Don't call the police just yet," House replied, "If you do, and they arrest him but Jenny isn't willing to say anything, then it won't matter. The guy will be out of prison and he'll be able to come back and get his revenge."

"So, what, you plan on convincing her? Last time you got near her you ended up yelling at the poor kid..."

"I'll have Cameron talk to her when she wakes up."

"_If_ she wakes up." Cuddy corrected quietly, "Fix her House, no kid deserves this life."

A/N: Alas my friends, our time is nearing an end, or is it? I don't know, maybe. I'm trying to figure out a way I can stretch it out a bit. But don't worry, there are at least three chapters left. Maybe more!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I lied, I have a bajillion more ideas, this is so not done yet! Happy Easter everyone!

"Her cortisol levels are low," Chase said as he stood in front of House and pulled out the test results from a folder. "Her white count is slightly elevated but that's not really out of the ordinary."

"Cortisol levels are low," House said thoughtfully as he twirled his cane in the air, "What would cause that?"

"It could be any number of things," Foreman replied, "Prolactinoma..."

"Not the right symptoms," House said, "We're looking for abdominal pain, fever, vomiting and low blood pressure, not post pregnancy symptoms." A thought raced through House's mind and he wondered if it were at all possible... Another thing to ask Jenny if they didn't find the cause of her disease.

"Lung cancer," Chase suggested, "There are unspecified symptoms like Jenny has and it could have spread to her adrenal glands."

"She doesn't smoke, neither do her parents." Foreman pointed out.

"Radon gas, it's a mutagen known to cause it." Chase replied.

"Possible, we'll get Wilson to do a biopsy, it has the least amount of risk with her condition."

"Crohn's Disease?" Foreman asked.

"No, her bowels are fine." Chase replied.

"Diabetes Mellitus?"

"Test her glucose levels," House said, "Where's Cameron?"

"She was checking on Jenny." Chase said, "Her BP is up a bit and her air ways are open, should we take her off the ventilator?"

"Give her another hour," House replied, "For safe measure."

xXx

"How is she?" Spencer asked from the side of Jenny's bed, he held the young girls hand in his own and gently pushed a lock of brown hair away from her face.

"Her fever is still spiking," Cameron said as she accepted a bag of ice from a nurse standing near by and gently placed it beneath Jenny's covers. "But we may be able to take her off the ventilator soon. Her air ways are clearing, as long as we know all the medication she's allergic to from here on in, we shouldn't have another scare like that."

"Interferon's the only one I know about." Spencer replied quietly, "Are you any closer to learning what's wrong?"

"There are a few things we're looking into." Cameron replied kindly, "You need to be strong for her, she's depending on you."

"What if she doesn't wake up?" Spencer asked.

"She will," Cameron replied, "She's still responsive to pain, a lot of this is just fatigue. When we understand what's wrong, we'll be able to deal with these episodes and hopefully avoid them."

"She's not a bad person you know," Spencer said quietly, "I know Doctor House thinks she is because she didn't tell him about her dad, but she's not. She's the strongest person I know, she's just quiet about it, she understands that she's not the only person out there that needs help."

"That doesn't mean she's not allowed to ask for it," Cameron said with a faint smile, "Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while. You shouldn't mind Doctor House, he naturally dislikes patients."

"He judges her," Spencer said, "Like she's selfish for not wanting to cause trouble."

"He's... a good guy," Cameron said slowly, picking her words with ease, "He just doesn't know how to show emotion for people."

"Well, I still don't think it's right... She's not trying to make his life difficult, she's just trying to get through her own."

"I can understand that." Cameron said as she placed another bag of ice beside Jenny and rested her hand on the young girls' forehead. "She's not going to come down any time soon..." Something caught her eye, a strange marking along Jenny's arm. "This is a strange scar." Cameron said as she gently turned the arm so it could be seen. It was a row of several small holes.

"Dog bite." Spencer replied with a nod, "Her parents have two Rottweiler's, six months ago when..." He trailed off for a moment and then cleared his throat, "She tried to run but those dogs hate her, one bit her."

"Did she get a rabies shot?"

Spencer nodded, "I took her to a clinic and we got one, no questions asked fortunately. But we couldn't leave after that."

"Looks like it was infected..." Cameron muttered.

"It was, they wouldn't let her clean it or anything... She tried though.." Spencer's voice trailed off once again as the door to the room opened.

"We're doing a biopsy on her lung when she wakes up." Wilson said as he walked in, "How is she?"

"Not too good." Cameron replied quietly, trying to not let the worry come in her voice. "Why?"

"Her Cortisol levels are low, lung cancer may have spread to her adrenal glands."

"Cancer? But she doesn't smoke!" Spencer said.

"There can be other factors." Wilson replied, "Mutagens in the environment can cause all types of Cancer. We're just ruling it out, don't get too worked up yet."

"How many more tests are you going to have to do?" Spencer asked as he turned back to Jenny, his gaze soft and concerned.

"As many as we need to." Cameron replied softly, "We're going to get her better. Don't worry."

xXx

'_Oh Jake... We can't!'_

'_We have to Sarah, it's the only way!'_

'_But your brother... when he gets out of his coma... Jake he'll come for me!'_

'_I'll protect you, Sarah.'_

"No, he won't, he's lying Sarah."

'_You won't Jake, I know you're still mad about the affair.'_

"Well he has a right to be."

'_I have full right to be! After what you did!'_

'_I swear the baby is yours Jake!'_

"Nope, its Chad's..." House sighed and flipped off the TV in his office, General Hospital was disappointing that day.

"Her Cortisol levels are low... what would do that?"

A/N: Sorry, it's short, Easter Sunday! More later tonight!


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey," Spencer smiled broadly as Jenny's eyes opened slowly. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled ever so slightly, her lips were dried and cracked, "Like crap." She whispered in reply. "What... happened to me? I remember...not being able to breathe then...blacking out..."

"You went into anaphylactic shock," Cameron said from beside Jenny, "You reacted to medication we gave you."

"Do... you know what's wrong with me yet?" Her voice was weak and almost inaudible despite the strong silence in the room.

"We're getting closer," Foreman replied with a small smile, "Your cortisol levels are low, we're going to take a lung biopsy to check for cancer..."

"Cancer?"

"It's just a safety precaution," Chase said, "If you have lung cancer it may have spread to your adrenal gland, which would explain your low cortisol."

"Will...it hurt?"

"We're going to give you a local anaesthetic," Wilson replied, "You won't feel anything."

"I don't... I don't think..." Jenny stumbled over her words.

"Jenny, you have to trust them." Spencer said firmly, "They're good people, Jen..."

The young girl stared at Spencer for a moment, her eyes searching for the trust she craved in her friend, there was a long pause before Jenny took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay."

xXx

"Jenny, you're going to feel a slight prick." Wilson stood over the young girl in her surgeon's scrubs and mask. He gently pressed a needle into the chest of the young girl and injected the anaesthetic. "It'll be numb in a few seconds."

"I feel dizzy." Jenny muttered.

"Her BP is getting lower again," Cameron said, "Doctor Wilson-..."

"Can you feel this?" He prodded the skin with his gloved finger.

"No..." Jenny muttered, "I think I'm going to faint again..."

"It'll only take a minute," Wilson took a larger needle and gently pressed it into her skin, drawing back and suctioning a minuscule amount of lung cells into the syringe. "All right. We'll get this tested, you're all done Jenny."

"How do you feel? Still like you're going to faint?" Cameron asked quietly. Jenny could only nod numbly and bite her lower lip. "Okay, we'll get you back to your room so you can rest."

Wilson looked over at Cameron from behind his surgical mask and gave the young doctor a curious look, Cameron could only sigh slightly and shrug her shoulders. As they walked out of the OR and took of their masks, Wilson caught Cameron by the elbow.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said swiftly as she pulled off her surgical mask and tossed it in the bin. "Why do you ask?"

"You looked a little worried back there."

"Well aren't you? She has a fever to top all fevers, her BP is lowering by the hour and we can't figure out what's wrong."

"Maybe you need to get some rest..." Wilson suggested.

"I can get some rest when she's better and on a bus to New York."

Wilson opened his mouth to ask another question but Cameron was out the door before any sound was able to leave his lips.

xXx

"Well the good news is, she doesn't have lung cancer."

"What's the bad news?" House asked from his seat in his office.

"There... is none," Wilson said, "I thought you'd be glad to know-...you're really the most negative person I've ever met."

"It comes with the territory," House admitted, "So no cancer, great, what other good news could find me today?"

"Well-..."

"I mean, are we even sure she's sick? Maybe this is just some ploy to get drugs."

"I'm trying to decide where exactly you stand on this case because really, you change your opinion of the kid so much... you're like a politician."

"She's an irritating patient."

"She's a kid."

"She's a self-centered, whiney, stuck-up..."

"She's human." Wilson pointed out, "And is scared and probably something else that you aren't telling me. It doesn't matter, she doesn't have lung cancer so that option is out. You're going to need to look somewhere else."

"Great," House muttered, "You know this case is paying for my retirement."

"I hope it's paying for your psychiatric evaluation as," Wilson replied, "From the sounds of it, you'll need it. What did Foreman find out?"

"We're still waiting for the results." House replied, "Honestly, with a whopping amount of money each year and little mints in bowls, you'd think they'd work faster."

"Maybe you should loosen their chains and upgrade to a higher quality leather whip."

"You know that could be taken-..."

"I meant you were slave driving them, I'm not going to keep hanging around if you keep interpreting everything I say as kinky."

"It comes with the territory." House said, "Go on, I'm sure you have clinic duty or something like that."

"And I'm sure you have your General Hospital..."

"Actually GH isn't on for another hour, right now it's old MASH reruns."

"My mistake." Wilson muttered as he left House's office.

House knew Wilson was right, of course he would never admit it. He was torn in this case, his life long philosophy of 'Not Meeting Patients Means Not Having to Care' was being put to the test. He had met her, he had taken pity on her and now he felt as if it was corrupting his own judgement. This would not do and House knew it. The real problem was Jenny's personal life, he knew something had to be done, but unless Jenny had the courage to stand up for herself then she would be forced back into her old life. She wouldn't survive there, not after all this. Either way he had to do _something, _the question was what.

"Thirteen." He muttered, "Something to do with thirteen years ago."

"She's unconscious again." Cameron said as she walked into House's office, "Fever is picking up, we're going to have to put her in ice soon. There's going to be nerve damage if it gets much higher."

"Thirteen." House said.

"What?"

"Thirteen," He repeated, "Something happened to her thirteen years ago."

"Well what do you want me to do? Is it really relevant?"

"It might be," House replied, "I'm not sure, I won't know until I know what exactly happened."

"So..."

"Wait till she wakes up," House said, "I want you to ask her, try to get her to admit the sexual abuse while you're at it."

"I don't think in her condition it would be right. What if..."

"You worry too much about the 'What if's', you need to start focussing more on the 'What will's'. What will happen if she doesn't tell anyone? Maybe the police will arrest Daniel Corbin but without her testimony it won't matter."

Cameron nodded sadly, "Fine, but I still think it's unsafe."

"Of course it's unsafe." House replied, "I'm all about taking risks."


	15. Chapter 15

Cameron pondered what exactly she should ask Jenny, _'Hi, just a quick question, have you been sexually abused and what happened thirteen years ago?'_ She understood how tricky it would be, Jenny didn't trust doctors, what hope did Cameron have of convincing this girl of what needed to be done?

The young doctor saw Spencer sitting beside Jenny, talking to her quietly, protecting her exactly like he promised he would. Cameron took a deep breath in and slid open the door.

"Spencer, can I talk to Jenny for a few minutes?"

Jenny turned slightly white and Spencer looked at her with concern, "It's okay, I'll be right outside." Cameron smiled and closed the door behind Spencer as he left, there was an awkward silence for a moment while she tried to decide what an appropriate opening sentence would be.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Jenny admitted as Cameron sat down on the chair next to the bed, "I still feel really warm too."

"Your temperature is very high," Cameron said, "The good news is, you don't have cancer."

"Let me guess," Jenny said with a small smile, "The bad news is you still have no idea what's wrong with me."

"We're...getting much closer," Cameron said quietly, "But there are still a few concerns that we have about your health."

"Like what?" Jenny asked quietly, although it was clear she knew where this conversation was going.

"Your boyfriend told Doctor House a few things..." Cameron said slowly, "Things that have happened to you, Why you aren't trustworthy of doctors..."

Jenny bit her lower lip and turned away from Cameron, she did not want to discuss anything, least of all her family with a doctor.

"What happened to you is a crime Jenny, you don't have to keep hiding it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's a lie." Cameron pointed out, "You know what I'm talking about, Jenny, we can help you. You don't have to be afraid of him anymore... We'll call the police-..."

"You would have already done it if you believed what Spencer told you." Jenny pointed out, "You haven't, you're just like the rest of the doctors I went to. No one listened to me."

"Doctor House believes you, I believe you." Cameron said firmly, "We haven't called the police yet because unless you're willing to tell them what happened, they won't be able to help you. Your father will be in prison for a day or two, then he'll come out and go after you again."

"So it's my choice then?" Jenny whispered, "I choose to run away, If he gets sent to jail then his friends will find me. I'm not safe anywhere, my only chance at life is running."

"People can protect you, Jenny..."

"I was _never_ abused," Jenny said as firmly as she could in her condition. "_If_ I was, and _if _it wasn't a risk to the people around me, I _would_ tell someone."

Cameron frowned sadly and nodded, "What happened thirteen years ago?"

"What?"

"You told Doctor House that you had been living with if for thirteen years... So what happened thirteen years ago?"

"I... don't remember."

"So, were you lying?"

"No," Jenny replied quickly, "I just... I dunno, I remember life being different, everything felt different."

Cameron let out a small sigh, "All right, well... If you ever need to talk..."

"I won't," Jenny assured the woman, "I appreciate what you're trying to do but... this is my problem."

xXx

"She wouldn't budge." Cameron relayed the disheartening news to House as he tossed a Vicodin pill into his mouth. "At least not about the sexual assault."

"Did she mention anything about the thirteen years ago?"

"Not anything viable," Cameron replied, "She said, it felt different."

"Great, she might as well have told us that she was a space alien, it helps just as much."

"What if..."

"Her glucose levels are low." Foreman announced as he stepped into House's office, "Abnormally low."

"Low glucose and Cortisol..." House muttered, there was a long pause before he sprung to his feet, at least, sprung as fast as he could for someone with his condition. Cane in hand, he limped down the hall toward Jenny's room. There he found Spencer sitting quietly by Jenny's side once again, the young girl immediately tensed as soon as she saw the doctors enter. House didn't say anything, he simply walked over to the young girl's side, took the arm she had been bitten on and turned it. Jenny winced but House smiled broadly.

The puncture scars, where normally white, were now an odd tan shade, as well as the skin surrounding the scars. House quickly turned the girl's arm and looked down at the elbow joint, it too was a tan shade, as if she had been in the sun all week.

"What is it?" Foreman asked quietly.

"Addison."

"What's that?" Jenny asked quietly.

"Have you eve had tuberculosis?"

"No..." Jenny replied.

"Have you ever-..."

"There's nothing in her file." Cameron pointed out.

"Yes well, we thought that last time, remember? I want an x-ray of her abdomen,"

"We don't know its Addison's yet," Cameron pointed out as she followed House out of the room, "We should do tests."

"We don't have time for tests," House snapped, "Listen, this kid has no time. If calcium deposits show up on her adrenal glands than we'll know at some point in time she had tuberculosis, which would have affected her adrenal glands, ergo the Addison's disease."

"But..."

"Go!" House said, "Come on! Not much time, remember?"

xXx

"So you think you've finally gotten this thing figured out?" Wilson asked from his seat in House's office.

"It makes sense." House replied with a shrug, "It's the only thing that accounts for all her symptoms."

"Do you think you caught it in time?"

"It's hard to say." House admitted, "She could be in Addisonian crisis by now... Her symptoms are advanced."

"So give her hydrocortisone, saline and dextrose," Wilson said with a shrug. "That usually works."

"But why?" House said, "That's the real question, why does she have it? Her symptoms only presented about two years ago."

"Well if it is Addison's then you need to start treating her-..."

"X-rays are back." Chase announced as he walked into House's office, followed by Foreman and Cameron.

House stood up as Chase placed the x-rays over the lit-up board, there was silence while the five doctors observed the see-through images.

"Who can tell me what's wrong with this picture?" House asked.

"The adrenal glands are half destroyed, the adrenal cortex is practically destroyed." Cameron whispered, "There are calcium deposits all over it."

"Tuberculosis," House said grimly, "Not anymore but she had it at some point in time, it destroyed her adrenal glands, chances are up to a year and a half ago she was getting sufficient nutrients so the symptoms didnt present. The Aspergillosis aggravated her symptoms and sent her into Addisonian crisis. Start her on hydrocortisone, saline and dextrose, check her aldosterone levels while you're at it."

House collapsed back into his chair as Chase and Foreman left his office, only Cameron and Wilson remained behind.

"What?" House demanded as Cameron gave him a stern look.

"I think you were right about something happening to her thirteen years ago."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I did a little research on the net after you mentioned tuberculosis and I found an article about a baby thirteen years ago..."

A/N: HAHAH. Cliff hanger, and I wont be updating anymore today or tomorrow (sleep over with my friends) trust me it's worth it. On another note, I need chocolate because I just had my heart broken, So irrelevant but that's probably why I was so evil with the cliffhanger. ;)


	16. Chapter 16

"That's insane..." Wilson muttered, "How..."

"I don't know, but it fits, doesn't it?" Cameron asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, it does." House replied as he gently twirled his cane in the air, "Of course, just saying she's a kid who was abused and had TB at some point in time fits as well. But I like your idea, it's more creative."

"So what do we do?" Wilson asked.

"Well, last time I did a DNA test I was strung up by Cuddy for a week and not given any food and water." House said, "So, I'm thinking... we don't tell her?"

"How are we supposed to get their DNA?" Cameron asked, "You know they won't give it up."

"Well you'll have to use that pretty little head of yours." House said with a smirk, "Use your imagination, Cameron, you're friends with the kid, you should have the motivation to do it."

Cameron sighed and rolled her eyes slightly, "Okay." She left House's office and there was a silence that could have been cut with a knife. House's whole perception on the situation had changed quite suddenly, as if nothing in this case was the same as it had been only minutes before.

"We need to call the police," Wilson said, "If it's true... She won't have to testify to the sexual abuse."

"We need to confirm it first," House said quickly, "If it isn't true then we'd only be stirring it up even more."

"What if it is true?" Wilson asked, "What..."

"I'll get Cameron to find them," House said slowly, "She's pretty deep into this as it is,"

"You won't be able to tell Jenny," Wilson said, "Not for a while at least, not while she's still in crisis."

"We should be seeing results within the next few hours." House replied, "If it is Addison's..."

"What if it isn't?"

"Then I don't know what to do," House admitted, "I'm out of ideas."

"This has really drained you, hasn't it?" Wilson asked quietly, "You're actually worried about a patient!"

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"What are you, five? You are worried about here!" Wilson said with a gleam in his eyes, "You don't have to deny it, we all are worried, she's a fifteen-year-old kid who's going through something no human being should."

"I _may_ be worried a _little_." House admitted with a shrug, "But in no way have I gone all out and actually started caring, she still lied..."

"Yeah, yeah I know. You don't have to explain it to me." Wilson stretched his sore muscles as he stood up, "I'm going home for the night, are you-..."

"I'm staying here," House replied, "I want to know the test results as soon as they're in."

"Who's going to tell her?"

"Cameron-..."

"Why her? You always make her."

"She's a woman." House said, "Woman tell other women things, that way there can be a lot of crying and stuff and I won't get my shirt wet."

"Most considerate of you."

"I know."

xXx

"I thought maybe you could use some coffee," Doctor Cameron was proud of herself, she wasn't able to give coffee to Gloria Corbin yet, fortunately the glass she had her water in earlier had been fished out of the trash. Foreman had taken the cup and questioned Cameron just why they were running parental tests, Cameron knew it wasn't her place to explain so she simply told him to ask House. Now she needed Daniel Corbin's DNA and the coffee he accepted from her was the key.

"Thanks." Daniel Corbin took a sip and continued to stare into Jenny's room.

Cameron hadn't really stepped on Corbin's toes at all, so she felt safe in asking him questions in hope of finding some answers or truth behind what she had read on the internet.

"She's on the road to recovery," Cameron said quietly, "You've got quite the little fighter for a daughter."

"She's got a strong will." Corbin agreed.

"We're still a little worried about nerve damage, her fever is holding strong at 104 degrees, but the medication we're giving her should bring it down very soon."

"Good, I'm glad."

"She's... a very nice girl." Cameron said with a small smile, "She's-..."

"You believe what she's told you, right?" Daniel Corbin turned to face Cameron, "The abuse, the hate, you believe all the just like the rest of the doctors do."

"I... believe there are signs, and her boyfriend doesn't really seem like the kind of guy..."

"He's a strange kid." Corbin said quietly, "Protective of her in ways I never imagined. I love my daughter, Doctor Cameron, I would never hurt her."

"I think that means you have to talk to her when she's better." Cameron said quietly, "Because she's under the illusion that her family doesn't care about her."

"Her family cares about her." Corbin said as he took another sip of his coffee. "I've told the others doctor, now I'm telling you, for your own safety, don't get involved in this situation. It's not safe. Get my daughter better and let me take her home where she belongs."

"You wonder why people don't trust you?" Cameron asked, "You hardly come off as the caring parental figure that she needs."

"My daughter will grow up strong willed and brave..."

"Your daughter will commit suicide from what she's had to endure before she's given the chance to grow up."

"If you think that, then do something about it." Corbin dared, "She's not saying anything, is she? You have nothing without her words." With that said, Corbin crushed the paper coffee cup in his hand and tossed it into a garbage can only a few feet away.

"Go home," Cameron said firmly, "Give your _daughter_ a little peace for the night. She can't run away."

Daniel Corbin smirked slightly, "I admire your courage to stand up for my daughter, but trying to be a hero or prove yourself to your boss will get you nowhere in this."

"Go home." Cameron repeated without being phased by Corbin's words. She watched Daniel Corbin turn on heel and walk down the hallway and out of sight, the young doctor smiled to herself and walked over to the garbage can. She pulled a plastic bag out of her white lab coat pocket and with a pair of tweezers, leaned over the garbage can and pulled out the cup.

"Perfect."

xXx

"So, you going to tell us why we're doing a DNA test on these cups?" Chase asked as he leaned against the counter in the lab.

"No." Cameron replied as she pulled out the coffee cup and sighed slightly.

"Does House know why?" Foreman asked from his microscope.

"He told me to do this." Cameron replied simply.

"So, the question remains, does Cuddy know?" Chase asked.

"No, and you're not going to tell her." Cameron said quickly as she looked up at the Australian. "Right?"

"Sure, if it's that important."

"It is."

"House is going to be paying out of his own pockets for this," Foreman muttered, "Does he know that?"

"He doesn't care," Cameron said, "Come on, this is really important."

"Okay, okay." Foreman muttered, "So, who's DNA am I looking at?"

"Gloria Corbin's."

"And you've got-..."

"Daniel Corbin's, the man is a creep."

"I could have told you that." Chase pointed out, "The man has serious issues he needs to deal with."

"He needs to start dealing with them on someone else's head." Cameron muttered, "I swear, when I was talking to him, he was so pleased with himself, like sexual abuse was a comical subject for him..."

"Whoa, slow down." Chase said quickly, "Sexual abuse? When did this happen?"

"House talked to Jenny's boyfriend, apparently it started a few years ago." Cameron replied, "That's how he knew she was allergic to Interferon, when she started getting sick her father thought it was Hep B so they took her to a doctor."

"And, what? The doctor just ignored the fact that she was there for a Hep B test? Didn't he ask any questions?" Chase demanded.

"Apparently the doctor attending didn't believe her when she told him," Cameron explained, "But this is all from the boyfriend, It may or may not be true."

"Probably is." Foreman muttered, "This kid has all the problems..."

"Has she said anything about it?" Chase asked quietly.

"Nothing," Cameron replied sadly, "I tried talking to her but she's too scared. I don't think her boyfriend was lying, I think it was all very real, that bite on her arm was from when she tried to run away a while ago. Her parents really don't want her leaving."

Foreman pulled a glossy paper from the slot in the printer and looked over the results, he had to check the paper twice, rub his eyes and then check a third time to be certain. "Guys..." He said, "This is weird..."

xXx

"Are you certain?" House asked.

"Positive." Foreman replied, Cameron and Chase stood behind him in the small office, cups of coffee in their hands. Everyone looked exhausted.

"Double checked the results?"

"Triple checked." Cameron replied sadly, "What do you want to do?"

"Has Gloria been discharged yet?" House asked as he unscrewed the lid to his Vicodin and popped a pill into his mouth.

"Not yet." Foreman replied, "Someone ought to..."

"Cameron, you think you'd be able to contact the-..."

"Yes." She said quickly. "I'll go do that right now."

"You didn't even let me compliment you." House said, "I was going to call you a 'people person'. Now I've used my good compliment for the week."

"Sorry," She smiled slightly and walked out of the office.

"So what are we going to do from here?" Chase asked quietly.

"Someone has to tell her." House said firmly.

"I don't know her that well..." Foreman said, taking a step back toward the office door.

"I think she's annoying." Chase lied as he too took a step back.

House rolled his eyes, "It is your job to inform patients..."

"Let's look at it logically," Chase said, "Would you want to be the one who told her?"

"No," House said firmly, "Which is why I'm making one of you do it."

"I think," Foreman said, "Because you get along with her so well, we'll let you do it."

House didn't argue, which was strange not only to him but to the other doctors as well. Both Foreman and Chase were certain they would have to give the life altering news, instead, House didn't fight them. It was almost like a part of him wanted to tell Jenny, like he felt it was his duty to do so.

It was one forty-eight in the am, the halls of the hospital were dead. The lights over head flickered slightly in an ominous fashion, the air was suddenly much thicker than House had ever remembered. The antiseptic smell reeked violently and sunk into his pores until he was the smell of the hospital. He lived there, he ate the cafeteria food, he drank the water from the cooler, he slept in his office and at times like this he wondered why he put himself through all of it. House didn't exactly hate the hospital, he hated the feeling of it, it was the saddest and happiest place in the world, and to him, it was always more sad than happy. He had cut himself off from the joy and now was drowning in the sadness.

He had wandered the halls, Ipod in hand, _'Boulevard of Broken Dreams_' playing quietly on repeat and quite ironically as far as House was concerned. His music let him go off into his own world, it was almost pleasant in a strange way, the hospital was not the ideal setting for such a song and yet... it fit. He had been wandering the halls for an hour and a half, stopping frequently to rest his leg, he has passed Jenny's room three times.

Over the years he had given bad news to many families. Things had happened, he had changed and he no longer had the ability to tell another human being that their life would be changed drastically because of something he did. This was not his fault, so why was there a sinking feeling in his gut, why did he fear telling this young girl such an important thing?

He stopped and stared through the glass wall to where Jenny was laying. Spencer was on the other side of the room sleeping in a chair, undoubtedly Jenny told him to get some rest, she was that sort of person, one more concerned with others than with herself.

House gently slid the door to her room open and closed it, careful not to wake the young man who was finally getting rest after days of pacing the hospital and being worried. Jenny lay on her bed quietly, fiddling with a wire and some beads, House noticed immediately that her hands shook slightly, making her task a difficult one. He limped forward and stood over Jenny for a moment, the girl did not look up, nor did she even acknowledge his presence, she just continued trying to put the beads together to form a shape.

Eventually frustration got the better of the young girl and she forcefully pushed the lizard away. Beads of sweat still hung on her forehead, her entire body was still just a mass of bones, almost no flesh, her skin was ivory in the dim light.

"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.

"Okay." She said meekly with a shrug, still not making eye contact.

"How many of those have you made since you got here?" House asked as he picked up the half-finished green and blue lizard and looked at it.

"Sixteen," Jenny replied, "I can't finish that one though, my hands keep shaking."

"You're body still isn't used to the nutrients its receiving." House replied, "It's ease off."

"So, am I getting better?"

House nodded, "You'll be free to run as far away as you want in a week or two."

"Has my mom been discharged?"

"Not yet." House replied, "We need to talk about something rather serious."

"What?" Jenny asked.

"You're parents." House said.

"I already told doctor Cameron," Jenny said quietly, "They never abused me..."

"Oh stop lying already." House snapped in a low voice, "I don't like patients that lie remember? Besides, I'm not here to talk about that." He had obviously scared Jenny, the young girl shrank back slightly in fear. House sighed and pulled a chair closer with his cane before sitting down and staring at the young girl.

"You said thirteen years ago things were different, they felt different."

Jenny nodded rather numbly.

"Doctor Cameron did some research when we suspected tuberculosis. Thirteen years ago there was a two year old girl in BC who had been admitted into a hospital for tuberculosis. Three days into her stay she disappeared, they never found her or who took her."

Jenny had a bewildered look on her face, if it was possible for her to turn any more white, she would have. Instead she simply looked quite faint.

"Did you know your parents aren't biologically related to you?"

"No..." Jenny whispered as she slowly shook her head, "No, no it can't be..."

House watch the young girls reaction and without realizing it, found himself leaning over and gently placing his hand on her shoulder, as if he was trying to offer some kind of support. Jenny buried her head in her arms and sobbed quietly, and in the darkness, _'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams_' finished playing on the Ipod before fading away into the darkness.

A/N: Thank you everyone, I appreciate your support and caring words. :) I'm not certain if I should do my final story shocker, but I really don't want this to end so... stay tuned!


	17. Chapter 17

"So," Jenny said finally, brushing away a tear from her face, "They aren't my parents."

"No." House said firmly.

"Do... do you know for sure if I'm that baby... that was kidnapped?"

House shook his head, "No, but it seems likely, your X-ray shows sever damage to your adrenal glands, suggesting you had tuberculosis at some point in time that wasn't properly treated, which would account for the Addison's..."

"But... I might not be..." Jenny whispered, "I might not be that baby... So... why are telling me this?"

"Why are you so reluctant to believe that you might be the kid?" House asked quietly, "These people, they aren't your parents, they have never treated you like parents should... Why is this so upsetting?"

"They're the only family I've ever know." Jenny whispered quietly, "Through the bad and the good... They're the only ones that have ever cared..."

"They've used you." House said quietly, "That isn't love, that's heartless."

"That's what I've grown up knowing," Jenny replied, "I don't know any different."

"And what if your real parents want to meet you? What if they want to give you a home?"

"I-..."

"You going to be selfish and keep that from them too?"

"I...I don't know." Jenny muttered, "I don't know what I'm going to do..."

"Get better." House said as he stood up, "And stop worrying about what'll happen to others, you've got to think about yourself."

xXx

"That doesn't make any sense." Chase said as he sat in the dimly light room adjacent to House's office. "Her tuberculosis was advanced, if she was only two when she received treatment... it should have killed her, she was only given three days of meds."

"Gloria Corbin is a nurse," Foreman pointed out, "It probably wasn't much of a challenge for her to sneak out the medication needed for the kid."

"And with Daniel Corbin as a big hospital donator, they probably ignored all the signs." Chase muttered, "But do we know if she's the missing girl yet?"

"Cameron's waiting for the information from the RCMP." House said as he tapped his cane on the floor, "We'll compare it when it gets here."

"Then what?" Foreman asked.

"I'm not sure." House replied, "It depends if she is the missing kid or not."

"If she isn't?" Chase asked.

"Then someone will have to tie her to a stake and try to get her to admit her abuse one last time. If she doesn't budge then we discharge her and don't give her a second though."

"How did she react?" Foreman asked, "When you told her they weren't her biological parents?"

"She recovered miraculously, danced a little jig and drank a pint of Guinness." House said with sarcasm, "She was depressed, what did you expect?"

"I would have been happy to learn that those assholes aren't my real parents." Chase muttered.

"She was upset because they're the only family she's ever known." Foreman pointed out, "It wouldn't be easy for any kid, especially one that's gone through so much hell."

"Almost makes you wish that she is the kidnapped kid." Chase said, "At least then she would be able to get away."

"She'd get away no matter what." House said thoughtfully, "She was going to run away."

"How is it you never want to talk to patients," Foreman began to ask, "And yet, when you do finally talk to one, you learn a lot more than the rest of us?"

"I don't know," House replied, "People just like opening up to me I guess."

"People don't open up to you," Chase pointed out, "You make them feel bad, you give them no choice."

"That too." House nodded, "It's a good strategy though, never seems to fail."

"You think it's the kind that works for a kid like Jenny?" Foreman asked quietly, "Because I think she's had enough of people yelling at her and telling her that she's selfish."

House simply shrugged and continued tapping his cane on the floor as he pondered all that had happened over the past few days. Never had a patient worried him so much, never had he feared for the life of another like he did now. He didn't _want_ to worry, but he did, he feared that his usual techniques of rude but blunt truth would be too much for such a broken child.

"Go home, both of you," House said suddenly, "Get some rest, we're not done yet."

Chase and Foreman exchanged worried looks but did not argue, they were just as tired as House and were grateful for the chance to get a little sleep.

House watched his minions walk out of his office and disappear down the hallway, Cameron was still working on obtaining DNA from the RCMP, she would be able to go a while longer without sleep. Besides, she was just as anxious to find out what was going on as House. He leaned back in his chair and tried to make sense of everything, Jenny was getting better, in a week or two she would probably be in good enough condition to be discharged, but to what? She would either go back with those parental figures of hers or she would run to New York, who knows how long she would last there. Either way, she was being doomed to a dismal life, so why did he care?

House closed his eyes and continued tapping his cane, the hollow 'thunk' was rhythmic and almost haunting in a strange way. _Tap... tap...tap... _This was his life..._Tap...tap...tap..._ Forever doomed to remain within the walls of the hospital, curing runny noses, prescribing cough medicine to worried mothers, dealing with patients who didn't care. Just like Jenny, the only difference was she didn't care for herself, she hated the image of herself.

Just like he did.

She didn't have a cane to proclaim her scars, instead she had her memories of time in the dark where terrible violations had taken place. House had his cane to support his dead leg, what did Jenny have? She had no cane, she had no support, she was yearning to tell someone... anyone who would listen her story, but her own fear and concern for complete strangers got in the way. She needed to create some kind of support, she needed a cane of her own...

xXx

Cameron waited impatiently for the paper to print off, she had Canada on hold, the RCMP had just faxed over the DNA from the case to be compared to Jenny's DNA. Cameron wasn't entirely certain if she wanted to throw the young girl's world into complete chaos, but every time she remembered the smirk and calm manner of Daniel Corbin, she wanted to throttle him.

"Got it." Cameron said as she picked up the phone receiver and held it to her ear with her shoulder.

"Are they a match?" The police officer asked from the other side.

"Just a second, I'm checking." She picked up the sheet of paper that held the genetic code of Jenny Corbin and compared it to that of the baby that had been kidnapped thirteen years ago.

"Well?" The police officer asked again after a moment of silence.

"It's a perfect match," Cameron murmured, "Every allele, every chromosome fits. She's your kid."

"I'll inform the parents." The officer said, "I'll contact the department on your end and set out the warrant for the Corbin's arrest."

"Good," Cameron muttered.

"Are you all-right Doctor Cameron?" The police officer asked. "You don't seem very happy about the whole situation."

"I am," Cameron replied swiftly, "It's just sad... Jenny has gone through so much, I'm glad the Corbin's aren't her real parents."

"Do you want me to contact the biological parents?"

"Could I? I need to explain her medical situation, I think it'll help when... if they come down, they need to understand ahead of time."

"Sure thing, I'll fax over their contact information." He paused for a moment, "And don't worry Doctor Cameron, she won't have to go through anything like this again."

The fax machine beeped again as a second paper printed off, Cameron gripped it in her hands for a moment and wondered what exactly she would say to the parents.

"Thanks so much Officer Morrison."

"Anytime, I'm glad you finally found her." He replied, "It was a hard thing for the whole community when she went missing. Anyway, I'll talk to you later on in the week."

"Bye." Cameron hung up the phone and stared at the information for a moment, It was late in Canada, she would have to wait until it was morning. Then she stopped, if she were in the same position as the parents, would she want to be kept in the dark for those few extra hours? While Cameron was pondering what needed to be done, House had crept up into the lab and watched her for a moment.

"The results are in, I take it?"

Cameron turned and nodded, the papers still in hand, "She's the missing girl from BC."

"Do you have her parents phone number?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to call them?"

"I...I don't know yet. I think I should but it's really late in BC right now and..."

"You need to get some sleep." House said firmly, "They can wait a few more hours."

The young doctor nodded again, rather slowly this time, as if she was unsure whether or not the information she had should wait.

"Go home." House said, "She'll still be here in a few hours."

xXx

The phone was ringing and Cameron waited patiently. She was awake and refreshed from the few hours of sleep she had and was no ready to make the life altering phone call. She sat at the glass table in room bordering House's office, all was quiet. It was mid morning, Foreman and Chase had both gone to check on Jenny, House was down in clinic duty. For the first time in over a week, everything was calm. Cameron took a sip of her coffee and picked up the phone, her hands shook slightly as she called the number.

The other end rang.

'_I wonder if they have other kids now.'_ She thought as the ringing continued, _'Would they welcome Jenny into their lives?'_

The ringing stopped and someone picked up.

"Hello?" A male voice asked on the other side.

"Mr. Kendall?" Cameron asked, taking a deep breath in.

"Yes?"

"Richard Kendall?"

"Yes."

"My name is Allison Cameron, I'm a doctor at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey."

"What can I do for you Doctor Cameron?"

He sounded cheerful enough, the voice of a man who had perhaps faced a few struggles in life but continued to get through them with a smile and a song.

"Recently a patient was admitted to the hospital, we've been treating her for a rather serious illness. One thing led to another and we ran a DNA test against her and her parents. She's not biologically related to them..."

"I suppose you've called to tell me she's my long lost child or something." Richard Kendall said with a chuckle.

"Thirteen years ago your wife and you lost an infant girl, The DNA from this patient was put through the system..."

"Oh...my god."

"And we matched her to you, Mr. Kendall, you and your wife, Olivia."

"Our daughter was kidnapped...so many years ago... we were told she was probably dead."

"Mr. Kendall. It's your daughter in our hospital."

The line went dead and Cameron wondered if Richard Kendall had fainted or died of a heart attack.

"Mr. Kendall, are you all right?"

"M-my daughter..." He asked quietly, "Is she...how is she...what..."

"She has Addison's disease," Cameron said quietly, "But I don't see why I have to tell you all this over the phone, If you'd like to come down here..."

A/N: Wow, I was going to do something crazy with the characters but I really didn't want to throw the story out of sync, instead... big-ish thing yet to come! Maybe I'll make a series of House stories for fun... I love doing research! Anywho, there may not be an update tomorrow, I might be helping my dad move into his new place. There will be one saturday though! Promise!


	18. Chapter 18

Cameron at last hung up the phone and sighed in relief, that was a load off of her mind. She had talked to Richard Kendall for a half hour, not going into detail about Jenny's condition or what had happened to her, instead she explained the care Jenny was getting. Mr Kendall had explained that seeing their daughter might be difficult for his wife, Olivia, who constantly suffered medical problems and he would have to discuss it with her before any decisions could be made. He made it clear that he wanted his daughter back, but his wife... There were emotional problems that she still struggled with and they would see. He promised to contact her the moment they had made a proper decision. There was a bleak sort of silence once the receiver was set down, and Allison wondered why she felt so upset by the whole situation.

'Damaged goods.' She thought sadly, words for House echoed in her mind.

Cameron decided she needed to take a walk, maybe get some fresh air while she was at it, maybe check in on Jenny and tell her the news, maybe not. It was as she neared the young girl's room that she heard the commotion, Chase and Foreman both stepped out of the room and looked down the hall as yelling continued.

"What's going on?" Foreman asked. "This is a hospital, do they realize-"

The situation became clear as the man making all the commotion came to view. Daniel Corbin was handcuffed by a police officer and being led down the hallway toward the exit

"...Under arrest for the kidnapping and assault of Jennifer Ava Kendall, you have the right to remain silent..."

"You're going to regret this!" Corbin shouted as he passed by the doctors, "You're going to regret sticking your heads where they didn't belong!"

"What does he think this is?" Chase muttered, "A TV show? We're going to regret this?"

"He needs a better finishing line." Foreman replied.

It was Cameron who noticed that Jenny was sitting upright in her bed and watching as they dragged her ex-father by. Spencer was no where to be seen, the girl was alone and a pained look was on her face.

"Hey, you guys." Cameron nudged Chase in the ribs and nodded toward Jenny. "Come on."

xXx

"You bastard!" Corbin shouted at House as the still struggling man passed by the clinic area where Cuddy, Wilson and House were standing. "I swear I'll make you pay!"

"Your healthcare insurance ran out!" House shouted back with a wicked smile, "You owe us for your daughters treatment! He's not going to pay." He said glumly as he turned his back to Corbin.

"Of course he's not going to." Cuddy said with a sigh, "Fortunately the legal system works in our favour, so we've got nothing to worry about."

"So Jenny's getting all better?" Wilson asked.

House sighed as he picked up a patient folder, "Apparently."

"Well that's good."

"Yes, yes it is."

"And yet, you seem less than thrilled." Wilson noted.

"Can't help it." House replied with a shrug, "Now that I've got no more critically ill patients to deal with, no more false parents, no more lies, my life is one boring mass of mush."

"Well, you could start with your six hours of clinic duty." Cuddy said with a smirk as she forced another folder into House's hands.

"Oh Yay." House muttered.

He limped toward exam room one and entered, all the while remembering when Jenny had first been his patient with her sick stomach. He had given her Gravol, he also should have noticed that even at the end she wasn't looking particularly healthy. There was a middle-aged man sitting on the examination table, scratching his arms and legs in a rather nervous fashion.

"Hello, I'm doctor House."

"James Burgon," The man held out his hand to shake House's in a friendly greeting, immediately House grimaced and held up his cane as a defense. Truthfully, he wasn't put off by the man, it was his red, scaling hands that he was rather disgusted by.

"What seems to be the problem Mr Burgon? Or can I safely assume that it's staring me in the face."

"They've been like this for a week, I've tried everything... My wife bought moisturizer, vitamin e cream... Nothings helped. I'm itchy all over."

House opened the file and sighed, "Mr Burgon, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a landscapist, why?"

"Well, I was thinking of getting my lawn replaced with a nice zen rock garden." House replied, "I assume you know different types of plants... oh, fairly well."

"I can name any rose bush you throw at me, and where it originated."

"Yes well I'm not throwing a rose bush at you." House said, "Try this one. Poison Ivy."

"What?"

"You probably ran across some while doing some gardening, I'm guessing this is your first time mishandling it, so it shouldn't dash your hopes of one day trimming Barbra Streisand's hedges." He hobbled over to the counter and opened a drawer where he pulled out a syringe and double checked its amount.

"What's that for?"

"It's a steroid to help control the itch and...red. Roll up your sleeve."

James Burgon did and House jabbed him with the needle in a most impolite fashion. When he was done, House tossed the empty needle into the bio-hazard container and began jotting down a prescription on his notepad.

"This is for Diprolene AF, it's a prescription cream, it'll stop infection. And use gloves next time."

With that said, House left exam room one and left a rather confused James Burgon with his thoughts.

xXx

"He won't be hurting you again, Jenny." Chase said quietly as he adjusted the IV drip. She wasn't really paying attention to what he said, instead she just stared out the glass wall to where her 'father' had disappeared.

"W...what about my mom?" She asked weakly.

"She's being guarded by a police officer until she's ready to be released." Foreman replied, "Don't worry, they're both going away for a long time."

"They never really...cared for me." Jenny whispered, "I always thought that was just the way families worked, I didn't see how it could be any different but now... " She smiled and lowered her eyes. "All those Christmas's and birthday's... I have good memories, not a lot but enough."

"You can have more." Chase replied, "There's always time to make new memories."

"What's going to happen to me?" Jenny asked quietly.

Chase looked over to Cameron who shook her head slightly. "We're... not certain yet. Right now we need to get you healthy."

"Have you found my real parents yet?"

"We're still working on finding them." Foreman put in quickly, "But don't worry, everything will turn out just fine."

"How much longer do I have to stay here?" Jenny asked, "Not that I don't like it... it's just hospitals kind of freak me out."

"Well, we're going to have to take more tests, but you're certainly on the road to recovery." Chase smiled, "It will be a week or two more at least."

"Great." Jenny muttered to herself.

"Can you guys leave us alone for a minute?" Foreman asked quietly. Chase and Cameron exchanged wary glances before nodding.

"We should go check the latest results in the lab anyway." Cameron said with a smile.

The two doctors left the room and slid the door shut to give Foreman and Jenny a little privacy, when he was certain they were long gone, Foreman put down the chart he held and sat on the chair next to Jenny.

"How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" Jenny said.

"I mean," Foreman said with a smile, "As a concerned guy, how are you doing with the whole situation with your... well parents?"

"I'm... I'm fine." Jenny said, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem anxious to get out of here... I can understand that, hospitals aren't great places to be stuck, especially for a long time."

"It's not that, I don't mind being here," Jenny said, "Really. It's better than being stuck at home"

"You suck at lying." Foreman said with a smile, "Is it because you're surrounded by doctors? Because you don't trust them..."

"That may play some part in it." Jenny admitted, "But you and Doctor Chase and Doctor Cameron are nice people, I just... We'll I'm not very trusting of people, it's a bad trait to have."

Foreman smiled, "Understandable... But you don't think Doctor House is nice?"

"I could do without him." Jenny said with a wicked smile.

"Couldn't we all?" Foreman grinned, "He's a good guy though, he just doesn't like to show it."

"Well, either way, I'm glad I was brought here instead of to another hospital." Jenny smiled bitterly, "Anywhere else may have just ignored... well everything."

"We don't let things like that get passed us," Foreman replied with a smile, "Don't worry, okay? This isn't like before, we believe you."

xXx

"Look at her results." Chase passed Cameron the paper which had just come out of the printer, a smile on his face.

"She's on the mend." Cameron said with a smile, "Thank goodness."

"I'd say another two weeks and she'll be free to go."

"That's a relief."

"So did you find her parents?" Chase asked.

Cameron nodded, "They're still up in BC."

"I bet they were happy to hear that their daughter's been found after all these years."

"Yeah," Cameron said with a small amount of doubt in her voice.

"What, what is it?" Chase asked, "You seem...less than thrilled."

"Not me, her parents." Cameron replied grimly, "The dad was happy but the mom, apparently she was sort of wary about the whole situation."

"But... Their daughter! They haven't seen her for thirteen years!" Chase exclaimed, "How could they not be thrilled?"

"I don't know," Cameron replied with a shrug, "They said they'd call when they made a decision."

"But... the law, don't they..."

"I don't know." Cameron admitted, "All I know is that it would be very difficult to go back to their old life after all that."

A/N: Haha, oh man, my email has been messed up so I haven't been receiving review alerts, I came on this morning and was all worried because I thought everyone had suddenly started hating it! XD


	19. Chapter 19

**Belligerent-road-pylon:** I too am from BC, I have this bad habit of not really going into detail when I know a place. So here I am staring outside at all the grey, It's just natural to me. Bad Kathleen, remember, not everyone is from here! So this chapter is just for you... and anyone else I may have annoyed with my lack of detail.

PS: A candy for the first person to figure out where in BC they are, no Alex, you can't play. ;)

Richard Kendall watched the rain fall outside of his window silently. The streets were misty and the mountains were hidden beneath the low-lying clouds. In the far distance, beyond the lake and on the other side of the valley, the burnt outline of a city ravaged by fire was still visible even after the two years that had passed.

_Pitter-patter_...

There was an old shoe box full of the many clippings from the many years ago. They had one baby picture, only one left of their beautiful daughter. She had destroyed them all after the police had told them that there was no hope left. Suddenly here it was, all the hope they needed in a simple phone call. Their daughter was alive.

Kendall stood up and looked over at his wife who was shifting through the contents of the shoe box, looking at all the old memories and thoughts that had been contained so many years before.

"Olivia..."

"Richard, I ... I don't think I can do it." She whispered quietly. "They told us she was dead... that there was no hope, we had a memorial, we buried her Richard." She was pale and fragile looking, just like thirteen years ago, there was fear in her blue eyes, the kind Richard thought he would never see again.

"Olivia, she's our daughter..."

"I know that Richard," The woman said in an exasperated voice, "And I love her but if we take her back..."

"Corbin is in jail," Richard said quietly, "I won't make that same mistake twice, we don't have to worry about him."

"But the people he works with... Richard, they might go back after her, after our daughter! I can't lose her again."

"We won't," Richard promised, "We can't just leave her there 'Livia. What sort of parents would we be?"

"Smart ones," Olivia said quietly, "If we take her back, they'll know where to look. They'll come after her again just to try to make you pay. You know Corbin would have killed her sooner or later, it was pay back to you."

"He's in jail..."

"The people he works with aren't." Olivia bit her lower lip and brushed a brown curl out of her face, "Richard, I want her back, but I don't want her to get hurt."

"We won't let that happen," Richard said with confidence, "I promise, but please... We have to go... don't you want to see her again?"

"You know I do." Olivia wiped a tear from her face, "But... Richard I'm scared for her."

"We have the money now, if they still try to come after her, we can pay them back."

"Oh Richard..." Olivia smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "We're going to get her back, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are."

The rain continued to thunder down through the city, washing the streets and creating a canvas of faded homes and forests. The airport was closed because of the weather, still Richard Kendall booked flights for two days and prayed to whoever might be listening to give them a chance.

Olivia continued to look through the articles, when she came across one she held it in her hand for a moment. The words 'Money', 'Scandal' and 'Illness' jumped off of the page. None of this was Richard's fault, it was her doing, Olivia knew that by going back for their daughter she would have to explain anything.

Would her little girl still want to come home after that? Olivia wasn't certain but she owed the chance of a new life to Richard, all she could do was pray.

'_CHBC news, Mister Kendall, are the rumours true?'_

'_I don't know what you're talking about.'_

'_Is it true you were forced to find illegitimate ways of paying for your wife's medical treatment?'_

'_No, it is not.'_

'_Could this be related to the disappearance of your daughter?'_

'_No.'_

'_Mister Kendall... what would you give to see her again?'_

'_Anything, I want my daughter back.'_

'_Have the police found any signs of where she may have been taken?'_

'_Not that I know of.'_

'_Why was your daughter in the hospital to begin with?'_

'_She has tuberculosis, I'm asking her kidnappers to please take into account that she is only two, my daughter is very sick. Please, return her to us.'_

'_Mister Kendall...'_

'_Mister Kendall!'_

'_I need that money Richard.'_

"The rain's finally letting up." Richard said with a broad smile, "We leave in two days."

"That's wonderful," Olivia grinned slightly, "So... what do you think she's like?"

Richard shrugged, "Doctor Cameron said her personality had been affected a bit because of her illness, but she's recovering, so I guess we'll find out."

"Richard... I can't believe we're getting our daughter back." Olivia said with a small smile, "It's been so long."

"She'll be fine," Richard smiled, "Don't worry, we'll keep her safe this time."

xXx

_Jenny sat there calmly, playing with her dolls, Miss Pony was just arriving for a tea party with Gary the Hamster who was actually just a sock stuffed with cotton and two button eyes. The real Gary had met an unfortunate end with the bottom of Dad's shoe last week, it was an accident._

'_Hello Gary, how are you today?'_

'_Well I'm just fine Miss Pony, you are looking very purdy today.'_

"_Jenny dear, you need to be a little quieter, daddy and mommy as discussing some serious issues."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_That's all right sweety."_

"_Gloria, I don't care, you have your way, she's here now..."_

"_Daniel, she's five, even you have a bit of heart, if you..."_

'_Would you like some tea Miss Pony?'_

'_Why yes I would Gary, thank you.'_

"_Jenny, hush dear."_

"_The kid has to go, the police will be all over here..."_

"_Daniel, don't you think..."_

'_A cookie, Miss Pony?'_

'_Thank you Gary.'_

"_Shut up!" Daniel snapped at the young girl who sat on the floor. She shrank away from him and closed her eyes. He yelled an awful lot, Mommy said it was just his way of showing he cared. "You never just shut up!"_

_He came out swinging, another way he loved her. She was fragile, like any child, and so when Daniel Corbin hit her, she went flying._

"_Daniel! Stop!" Gloria screamed._

_Oh but Jenny had it all sorted out, whenever Daddy got angry she would simply curl into a ball and hide, less damage that way, and he usually realized that he was hurting her._

"_Dad stop!"_

"_You're going out there and performing tonight! I don't care how sick you are!"_

"_Dad, please listen!" _

_She was older now, not the innocent five year old she had been ten yeas ago, now she was full of fire and hate for everyone and anyone around her. She allowed a blow to be cast to her head, just a single one, to keep him satisfied. If he tried again, she would fight as much as her body allowed her to._

_Violation, hate and fear, the family lived off of it. Jenny found herself closer to the edge with each night of horror, her mind began to crack under the pressure, spinning her closer and closer to the edge of insanity. It was only when Spencer and the other band members came into her life that her life began to hold meaning again. The stage lights brought out the little joy she had left in her soul and allowed to fill everyone listening with the same hope._

_The nightmare led jenny back to the stage, the warm house lights blinded her. She held up her hand to stop the blinding rays, nothing worked. Jenny spun around to look at the band, what she saw made her physically ill, all of her friends including Spencer, were sprawled on the stage. Their flesh was rotting off of their bones, blood pooled around their corpses. Jenny tried to scream but no sound came from her throat, no one could hear her cries, just like always._

"_Why are you crying?" She turned only to see Daniel, her 'father' standing there, a wild smile on his face. "You always cry."_

_He advanced on her slightly and Jenny stumbled back, her mouth open, no words came out, no screams, no whimpers of fear. There was that familiar hungry look in her kidnappers' eye, something she had learned to fear as a child._

"_You can't sing for me can you?"_

"_It's okay Jenny, you can come back." The voice of Doctor Foreman filled her mind, Jenny looked around and desperately searched for him_

"_You're on the mends, you don't have to worry." Now Doctor Chase, overlapping Foreman as he spoke._

"_We'll find your parents, you don't have to worry." Doctor Cameron was louder than the other two combined._

"_I don't like patients that lie." That was Doctor House, all of them spoke together in strange harmony, drowning out Daniel Corbin._

Jenny's eyes snapped open and a gasp escaped her, cool sweat poured down her face.

"Are you okay?" Doctor Foreman was standing near by, writing something on a clipboard.

"Yeah, it was just a nightmare." Jenny muttered, "Thank goodness."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Okay, see NOW we're nearing the end, not the end-end, but close. But, I am proud to announce I have decided that "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is the first instalment in a series of House stories I will be writing. I call the series... Well I don't know yet, but when I come up with a name it will rock your socks! (And I have a plan for later on in the series, assuming I get loyal readers or something like that. Man, I need sleep.)

"Just checking on the patient." Chase said swiftly to the police officer standing inside of Gloria Corbin's room who became ironclad as the young doctor stepped in.

Gloria was sitting there with an almost eerily calm look on her face, her right wrist was handcuffed to the bed rain, an iv dripped the aspergillosis medication slowly into her arm. The room was completely silent, as if a sound would shatter the little sanity she had left.

"How are you feeling today, Mrs Corbin?" Chase asked as he looked over the woman's chart with little interest of how she was actually doing.

"They've arrested my husband." She said dimly. "The only reason they haven't taken me away yet is because I still need treatment."

"That... Is true." Chase said with little interest in what the woman had to say.

"And then when I'm better they'll take me away."

"Yes, yes they will." He adjusted the iv drip slightly and continued to ignore the woman as much as he could.

"Because of what I did to that bitch."

Chase turned and stared at the woman who had a mysterious grin on her face. "You've got a lot of nerve calling the girl you kidnapped a 'bitch'."

"Oh but she is." Gloria smirked to herself, a far away look in her eyes, as if she were entirely in a world of her own. "Of course, it wasn't her fault that this happened, but what did she expect? We didn't love her, who could love such a child? Always crying, asking for hugs and kisses and things that children don't need."

"You're mad." Chase muttered, "You kidnapped a two-year-old girl with tuberculosis and raised her as your own."

"And I did a fine job."

"You barely kept her alive," Chase said darkly, "You watched her get beaten and raped by your husband... Didn't any of it register with you that what was happening was wrong? Or were you too consumed with your drug abuse to notice?"

Gloria Corbin snapped her head and looked at Chase, she looked down at her arms and pressed her left hand gently against the white scar lines on her right arm. "I may have had an abuse problem in the past, but it in no way interfered with my raising of Jenny."

"That remains to be seen," Chase muttered, "It doesn't matter, you won't be hurting her again."

"Jennifer has grown up a strong and brave young woman." Gloria smirked, "Anything she endured from my husband or I was for her own good."

"Let me guess, that which doesn't kill her only makes her stronger?"

"Exactly," Gloria smiled, "No one will ever break her, she's grown up on the defense."

"No one will break her because she's already broken." Chase pointed out as he jotted something down on the clipboard, "You're the kind of person who deserves to feel the pain you've dealt over the years. Your kind always gets what's coming to them."

"You think I care?" Gloria asked with a chuckle, "Its so silly, another month or two and she would have been dead, it wouldn't have mattered."

"What wouldn't have mattered?" Chase demanded quietly, suddenly his interest had been piqued.

"The money," Gloria replied with a smirk, "We would have taken her back to BC, the police would have found her body and made an id, and after thirteen years those poor Kendall's would have gotten some justice."

"Well lucky them, they get their daughter back."

"No, they don't." Gloria smiled to herself and went back to her own little world, "She'll be gone before they have a chance to see her."

Chase stopped and slowly turned to look at Gloria, "What are you talking about?"

She simply smiled and began humming a little tune to herself.

"What do you mean, she'll be gone?"

"Long gone."

"What are you..." Chase began to talk when his beeper went off, he reached into his lab coat and pulled it out, after looking at the short message he looked back at Gloria who was smiling brightly.

"I'm right."

xXx

Earlier:

Foreman slid the door to Jenny's room shut and looked around, Spencer had gone, doctors orders, to get something to eat from the cafeteria, he was far more relaxed after watching Daniel Corbin being led away by the police. It was safe to leave Jenny alone, she was stable, still tired but stable. What could go wrong?

"Hey, How's Jenny?" Wilson asked as Foreman passed by him in the hallway.

"On the mend," Foreman replied, "She's stable, still not hungry and pretty tired but her body is doing fine."

"Is she opening up to anyone yet?"

"I think so, slowly but surely, It'll take a lot more work if anyone ever wants her to come out and admit sexual abuse though."

"At least that creep is in jail." Wilson muttered.

"Yeah, but still, this whole situation is really messed up."

"Well of course it is." Wilson replied, "It's in this hospital, we can't anything nice and simple that might make sense and that we could all leave from emotionally stable."

"Are you suggesting that this case as somehow affected our emotional state?"

"All I'm saying is that everyone seems to be getting far more involved with the patient than they should. I'm all for communication but when House starts caring, then something is just wrong."

"Yeah that is a little weird." Foreman agreed, "Still, it can't be helped, she's just the kind of kid that draws people to her."

"Don't let her draw you too close," Wilson warned with a smirk, "It's hard to let them go."

"They grow up so fast," Foreman said as he rolled his eyes, "I think I'll get over it pretty quickly when we discharge her."

"Well, while we're being honest..." Wilson said, "I won't."

"Yeah," Foreman sighed, "Neither will I..."

The thought was cut off by the electronic chime of a beeper, Foreman reached into his lab coat and pulled out the device, when he read the message his heart dropped him his chest.

"What is it?" Wilson asked.

"Jenny." Foreman whispered.

xXx

Earlier:

Cameron was relieved to a certain extent, she was no longer panicking about Jenny, now her only fear was that of her parents. Would they come? Did they still want her or would they find some loop hole in the law which exempted them from parental duties? Richard Kendall didn't sound like the kind of man that would try to do that, quite the contrary, he sounded relieved to hear Jenny was alive.

So why did they need to think about it? Why would they have to think about their daughter and whether or not she should be back in their life? Obviously there was something deeper, some secret that kept them from coming near to their daughter.

Cameron poured herself a cup of coffee and collapsed onto a chair in the office, the black sludge was bitter and jolted her awake ever so slightly. A thought suddenly occurred to her, she pulled over her laptop and opened up the internet in hopes of finding something more conclusive than a few random thoughts. She googled the name "Richard Kendall" and 380,970,285 different results showed up.

'Richard Kendall Jennifer Kendall kidnapping'

She pressed the enter button and waited patiently as the painfully slow connection filtered through the massive interweb until the page appeared with the results. She skimmed over the odd titles and summaries of articles when the words 'mob connection' and 'money scandal' caught her eye. As she clicked on the link her beeper went off, with a sigh she pulled it from her lab coat, the message wasn't something she wanted to see.

Doctor Cameron was off of her seat and out the door in a flash just as the page finished loading.

xXx

House was ambling down the hallway in search of something to do when his beeper went off, he sighed and pulled it from his pocket, fully expecting to see some note from Cuddy, telling him to get his butt down to the Clinic. It wasn't, 'Jenny, code blue' was written out in the small letters. House turned around and limped as fast as he could toward the young girls room.

"Jenny, wake up Jen, come on." Cameron lightly shook the body of the young girl as House stood outside of the room and watched the proceedings inside.

"Airways are open." Chase said, "Her pupils are reacting."

"Her BP is low again." Foreman said.

"She's not responding to pain."

"What's going on?" Spencer asked as he stepped in behind House.

"She's in a coma." House replied as the three doctors within stepped away from Jenny. "Which means something else has to be wrong."

"Excuse me." House turned to face a middle-aged couple who looked a little lost. "We're looking for a Doctor Cameron," the man said, "Could you tell us where we can find her."

"She's with a patient right now." House replied.

"She told us our daughter was here." The woman replied, "Jenny Kendall, do you know her?"

A/N: updates will be waaay less after this (sorry, bad timing) school starts again tomorrow.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I... Am SO sorry! No, I haven't disappeared or died, school was more insane than I thought! (A new term and my math mark is less than favourable) Anyway, this is almost complete. I still plan on doing a series this summer, all the stories will be much shorter, or else I get carried away like this! XD

"I'm Doctor House, the attending on your daughters case." House said as he shifted his cane uncomfortably and wondered if he made a break for it, how far would he get before they caught him. "This is Sam..."

"Spencer." The young man corrected.

"Right, Spencer Something,"

"Spencer Taylor," The young man corrected again, a little miffed by House's attitude.

"Right, he's a friend of your daughters."

"When can we see her?" Olivia Kendall hung onto her husbands' arm like a fragile flower, afraid to be blown away in the wind, which really was the most appropriate way to describe the way she looked.

"There have been some complications," House said slowly, knowing that he'd have to talk in simplified sentences just to get through to these parents. "It appears your daughter is in a coma."

"W-what does that mean?" Richard Kendall asked quietly.

"It means that somewhere in the process of getting your daughter better, we missed something."

"What... what can you do for her?" Olivia asked.

"Run tests." House said bluntly, "And watch her, other than that, very little. She's sick, her immune system has been compromised twice before this, we've taken enough blood from her to start our own bank, we'll have to wait before we can take any more."

"Do you have any good news for us?" Richard Kendall asked with a slightly defensive stance.

"Yeah," House said as he turned his back to them, "You're here now, at least she won't die alone."

"Mister Kendall?" Cameron stepped out of the room, a pained look on her face.

"Yes? Doctor Cameron?"

Allison nodded and smiled grimly, "I didn't expect you here so soon..."

"We took the first flight we could." Richard Kendall explained, "Doctor Cameron, what's going on? This Doctor-..." He turned to motion where House had been standing but was no longer. "House, he said our Jenny is in... Please, what's going on?"

Cameron lowered her eyes and tried to think of what would be appropriate to say to the Kendall's, they had come here expecting to see their missing daughter, only to find that she was in a coma and not looking particularly good.

"Your daughter is very sick. When I called you... we thought we had everything sorted out. She arrived with Aspergillosis, a fungal disease. It aggravated her Addison's disease, which has been caused by her tuberculosis from thirteen years ago, this sent her into Addisonian crisis. We began treating her and her symptoms were improving but now... It appears that we were either wrong in the Addison diagnosis or... something else has sent your daughter into a coma."

"Oh my god." Olivia Kendall buried her head onto her husbands' shoulder as tears streaked down her face. No one had noticed that Spencer had moved away from the doctor and parents and was now standing in front of the glass window. He was looking in at Jenny as Chase and Foreman desperately tried to figure out what exactly was wrong.

"Please wake up." He whispered as he rested his hand against the glass, "Wake up Jenny..."

xXx

"I don't get it," House muttered to himself, "What did we miss?" He sat in his office and stared up at the walls and tossed his cane lightly from hand to hand, Cuddy was coming up to his office, so was Wilson. Never in his entire career had a case provided such a challenging case, it was so unfair. Just as her parents arrived she _had_ to go off and slip into a coma.

"Why me?" House muttered over and over again, "Why? Why? Why?"

"Because you make god cry?" Wilson suggested as he walked into the office followed closely by Cuddy.

"That's nice." House replied as he turned to look at his friend, "I thought I was god."

"We'll you're doing a pretty crappy job at running things." Cuddy pointed out, "Why is she in a coma?"

"I don't know." House admitted, "All her tests show Addison's, unless there's a third thing that's wrong with her."

"We'd have to give her some kind of award." Wilson said with a sigh, "Patient who successfully manages to confuse the most doctors."

"The police are coming to talk to the Kendall's." Cuddy said slowly, "They're probably going to want to talk to you as well."

"Why me?" House asked.

"Because you talked to her, she admitted the abuse to you..."

"Not really."

"Well it doesn't matter, the fact remains that you know her best out of any of the doctors."

"Daniel Corbin's still in jail isn't he?" Wilson asked, "Because this could be his fault."

"What could he do? Poison her?" Cuddy demanded, "No way, he's locked up tight in a cell. There's got to be another reason."

xXx

"Her BP is on a steady decline." Chase muttered as he looked at the monitor beside Jenny's bed. "She's not responding to fluids."

"What do you think is going on?" Foreman asked quietly.

"Who knows," Chase replied, "This kid must be cursed."

"Maybe we need to get her aura cleaned." Foreman suggested with good humour, "A good shaman with affordable prices."

"How can you joke at something like this?" Chase demanded, "This is bad!"

"I know," Foreman replied with a shrug, "It's how I deal with awkward situations."

"How much longer do you think she has?" Chase asked, ignoring Foreman's comment completely.

"Two days, maybe three." Foreman said quietly as he looked down at Jenny with a sad look in his eyes, "Unless of course we figure out what's going on."

xXx

"Can... can you tell us anything about her condition?" Richard Kendall asked quietly, his arm was around his wife's frail shoulders, her head buried in his arm, hiding her tears.

"She was admitted with aspergillosis, a fungal disease." Cameron explained quietly. She had taken the two shocked parents to a quiet corner of the hospital where they could sit and discuss the situation. "Myself and a colleague went to her home and discovered some disturbing information about her living situation. Your daughter... has been spending most of her life in a basement, there were spores in the vent above her bed which she's been breathing in for who knows how many years. We believe the aspergillosis aggravated her Addison's disease which was a result of her half-treated tuberculosis. She was on the road to recovery when she slipped into a coma, I honestly don't know what happened."

"What are you doing to find answers?" Olivia asked as she wiped her eyes on a tissue her husband handed her.

"We're running some tests, at the moment we can't take any more blood because of her low BP and we've taken a fair amount over the past few days as it is." Cameron paused and watched the parents, she was amazed by what she saw. These were the parents that a child like Jenny deserved, and these were the same parents that may never get a chance to speak to her.

"What... what's the chance that she'll wake up?" Richard asked quietly, obviously hiding his own fear.

"It's hard to say at this point in time." Cameron admitted, "We'll need the results from the tests first, her stats are declining, without answers..." Cameron paused and tried to find the words that would not come to her. "If we can't figure this out then... she may have three days left."

"Oh my god." Olivia muttered before burying her head in her hands and sobbing once more.

"Doctor House is an amazing diagnostician," Cameron said, "If anyone can figure this out, he can."

xXx

House stood outside Jenny's room and stared in through the glass. There was a single lamp lit near her bed, casting beams and shadows around the room and onto the young girls ghostly face. The heart monitor was still moving with its jagged lines but there was an obvious decline. Something was killing her.

'All tests negative...' House thought as he held the results in his hand, 'No more sicknesses, just an insane white count that's fighting off something. But there is no infection, no fungal disease, we still have her on the Addison's treatment... what the hell is going on?'

Gloria Corbin had been released from the hospital two hours earlier and taken by the police. It had been quite a scene between the kidnapper and Olivia Kendall, who had begun screaming her fury at Gloria for taking her daughter and nearly killing her. As it had turned out, Gloria and Olivia had been old friends back in BC, the Corbin's had moved a few months after Jenny had disappeared and had not been heard from until now. The police had to restrain Olivia as she tried to lunge at Gloria, with no real agenda in mind, she just wanted to rip the woman's head from her shoulders.

It was only when she nearly fainted that Olivia gave up trying to attack Gloria and finished her verbal attack on the woman with a simple: "Burn in hell." Cameron had taken a history and learned that Olivia had systemic lupus erythematosus. During a rough time for the family while there was no medical coverage available, Olivia had become pregnant with Jenny. She was a 'high risk' and so Richard had borrowed money from rather shady people to get his wife and unborn child the best care available. Unable to pay off the debt in time, the infant Jenny had been taken from her parents by the same people who had lent them the money to insure her survival.

Jenny had been caught up in a heated battle and was forced to pay the price. By working at the bar, she had been paying off her fathers' debt.

House wondered how much money she still had to pay before this all happened. Maybe they could have hosted a bake sale to help her out. Little good a bake sale would do for her now, with all her tests negative and no real lead, the doctors were stuck. All they could do was watch the young girl slowly fade away from the world.

House was not one to let that happen, so with papers in one hand and cane in the other, her hobbled back to his office to take a look at the reports once more and see if there was something. Anything to turn them in a new direction.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Again, so so sorry! Two chapters left Snif Then my baby will be done... Then I'll take a short break for exams and then... SUMMER! Yessss, If anyone has any good ideas for a Series title, let me know, I was thinking Spinal Tap XD, but maybe not. I already have the next story planned out. Hahaha, I love summer time!

"Differential diagnosis people." House said with a firm voice as he entered the room, Cameron, Foreman and Chase were all sitting around, the medical books already open on their laps, their eyes madly scanning the pages for answers. "What do we know?"

"It's not the Aspergillosis that's doing this to her," Foreman said, "We removed enough spores to put her out of risk."

"And the Addison's treatment was working," Cameron added swiftly, "Her BP was rising, her temperature was down, her joints were getting their normal colour back . . . "

"And yet . . . Here we are." House said with mock surprise, "My . . . my goodness, could she still be sick? Is it possible we missed something?"

"We've gone through everything!" Chase retorted, "We haven't missed something."

"And yet again, here we are." House replied. "We've still got a sick patient with a high temperature, in a coma and . . . surprisingly enough, dying. I must admit, I feel like we've really accomplished a lot today, what do you say? Drinks on me!"

"Will you stop being so sarcastic for just a minute!" Cameron shouted quite abruptly, stopping all movement in the room and some out in the hallway. "She . . . is a fifteen-year-old girl." Her voice turned deadly low, "She is dying . . . her parents, who love her dearly and who haven't seen her for thirteen years are waiting to talk to her. We don't have time for any arguing."

House, Chase and Foreman just stared at the usually quiet Allison Cameron, their mouths hanging open in shock from the violent outburst they had just witnessed.

"Okay," House said slowly after a long and drawn out silence, "So what do you suggest?"

"I don't know!" Cameron snapped again.

"Well little help you are." House muttered, "All right, fine. Let's look at this whole situation. A variable changed since she was admitted, something was added or taken away between the time that her Addison's was clearing up and she slipped into a coma, what was it?"

There was silence in the room again as all three ducklings tried to think of any small thing that may have changed. At last Chase spoke.

"Nothing, nothing's changed. Her diet's been the same, same medication, same people visiting her. Same everything."

"Same people . . . " House muttered to himself quietly, "I told him not to leave her side . . . "

"What? What are you talking about?" Foreman asked.

"That kid, Steve-..."

"Spencer," Cameron corrected as she, Foreman and Chase all stood up to follow House.

"That's right, him, I told him not to leave her side, but he was just getting back when we responded to the Code Blue call."

"He was gone all of fifteen minutes!" Chase retorted, "Are you suggesting that she's allergic to his lack of presence."

"That's stupid." House said as he hobbled down the hallway, "I'm suggesting that she wasn't alone. Foreman, get the chart and the times that her new IV's were put in."

"What is that going to prove?" Cameron asked as the group slowed and stood outside Jenny's room.

"What is the variable in the situation?" House asked as they watched a nurse walk into Jenny's room, carrying a bag of saline solution and hydrocortisone, a second nurse followed carrying bags of ice to pack around the girl. Spencer was sitting beside her once again, more determined than ever not to leave. Even through the glass and a good four meters away, the four doctors could see the beads of sweat on Jenny's forehead as her fever spiked further. Hyperthermia, her temperature was going to kill her.

"What is always changing?"

"The air? The sheets? The type of Ice?" Chase named off random variable.

"I don't pay you for assumptions, give me something better to work with." House said sternly, "Think minions, think."

"The nurses." Foreman said suddenly, "They're always different on shifts."

"See who was assigned to Jenny's room when she lapsed into the coma." House said firmly, "And then hunt him or her down with a tranquillizer gun."

Foreman walked into Jenny's room and began looking over the clipboard, the remaining three doctors outside the room could see Spencer leaning forwards in anticipation and asking Foreman question after question.

Suddenly Chase's mind went back to his last conversation with Gloria Corbin, what had she said? Jenny would be long gone before her parents were given a chance to talk to her. At the time Chase had considered it nothing more than the woman's psychotic behaviour, but now it seemed almost unreal.

"What if the Corbin's did something to her?" Chase suggested, "Gloria was acting really strange when we got the call, saying weird things like Jenny wouldn't see her parents and stuff like that."

"They've been locked up," Cameron pointed out, "What could they have possibly done?"

"I don't know, maybe they hired someone to do it, they seem like the kind of people that would do that."

"That's not a bad idea," House replied, "In fact, it's actually a fairly good idea, several questions remain though. Who? Why? How? When? I could keep going if you'd like."

"No thanks." Chase muttered darkly.

"Does anyone know a Nurse Logan?" Foreman asked as he walked out of Jenny's room, "It says she administered the meds just before Jenny went into her coma."

Chase, Cameron and House shook their heads.

"Never heard of a Nurse Logan before." House replied, "Not completely unbelieveable because I don't like any of the nurses here."

"I'll go check with Cuddy," Chase said quickly, "This is getting too weird."

"Could a person really just walk in and administer a drug without anyone noticing?" Cameron asked as she and Foreman followed House back down the hallway. "I mean, this hospital is packed, how could a person get away with it?"

"A clean pair of scrubs and an axe murderer could get in here." House replied, "Check around and see if you can find anything on this . . . Nurse Logan. Foreman, I want you to monitor Jenny every minute of every day, let us know the minute her condition changes. We don't have a whole lot of time left."

Two hours later . . .

"Cuddy says there's no record of a Nurse Logan," Chase announced as he stepped into House's office, "And she's about to blow her stack, she's not happy . . . "

"Cuddy's never happy," House muttered as he threw a red ball into the air and caught it, "At least it isn't my fault this time."

"She also said if you don't figure out what's wrong soon, she'll give you three extra hours of Clinic duty."

"That's not fair."

"I think she's probably just trying to encourage you a little."

"Well she could try to encourage me other ways, like wearing lower cut- . . . "

"You aren't going to believe this," Cameron said as she stepped into House's office, "I found our Nurse Logan."

"Who is she?" House asked as he put the red ball onto his desk and stared at the duckling.

"You remember Jenny telling us about the doctor that Daniel Corbin made her go see? To check if she had Hep B?"

"Yes . . . "

"Doctor Katrina Logan," Cameron said firmly, "A family friend."

"I was right?" Chase asked in disbelief, "Daniel Corbin got the old family doctor to poison her?"

"It seems possible," House replied with a nod, as he did his pager went off, and for some strange reason his heart leapt in his chest just a little. He was . . . afraid.

"Code blue." He said sharply, "Come on."

"BP is 45 over 62 and dropping!" Foreman yelled as the other three doctors raced into Jenny's room, "Her fever is at 106!"

"Get ice!" House yelled at a nurse who was near by. Without thinking twice he unhooked the bag of meds hanging over Jenny and tossed them to Cameron, "Test it, priority one!"

"No pulse!" Foreman yelled, "Paddles!"

Outside of the room, Richard and Olivia Kendall had just arrived and watched in horror as the doctors tried to shock their daughter back to life. House yelled something inside the room and a nurse closed the shades, blocking the horrendous image from their sight. Olivia gave a cry of hysterics and fell to her knees, her husband knelt beside and gently tried to comfort her while suppressing his own cries. Inside the young girl struggled to survive, her heart had ceased function, the simple line on the monitor that had represented her life dropped and ran flat.

'Hold on,' House thought swiftly, 'Just a bit longer...'


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Hey peeps, after this chapter is just sort of the finale, nothing spectacular happens. I've also come up with a name for the series "The Book of Diseases" I was going to call it 'Book Of Diseases Ya'll' just so I could call it BoDY. But Ya'll just seems tacky! XD So yes, keep a look out for Numero 2, I have exams after this, then an appointment at the children's hospital (Any of you wonder about my mad medical research skills, comes with spending lots of time in a hospital!) So yes, hopefully I'll have #2 started before I leave!

"We have a pulse," Foreman said at last as he moved his stethoscope away from the young girls' heart, "But it's weak."

"Keep packing the ice on her." House said, "A few more hours with this temperature and she'll begin suffering permanent brain damage. Chase, I want you to call the police, tell them everything. Make sure Daniel Corbin's safely locked behind a set of steel bars."

"Where are you going?" Chase asked House as he turned to limp out of Jenny's room.

"I'm going to see how far along Cameron is, I want one of you to go get another bag of Hydrocortisone, and from now on, one of you does it. No more nurses."

House looked around the empty hallway toward a small group of chairs, Olivia and Richard Kendall sat on them, curled up together, both looking pale and worn out. House understood the feeling, hospitals just had a way of wearing anyone out, even those that weren't patients.

"Mister Kendall?"

"Yes? Doctor House, how is she?"

House rubbed his eyes wearily, she was alive, but she wasn't getting better, and that wasn't the news that Jenny's parents wanted to hear.

"She's... dying." He said finally, "Her fever has peaked at 106, we're packing ice around her to keep it down as much as we can. A few more hours of it and she will begin suffering brain damage. Her Blood Pressure is low, far lower than it should be, her body..."

"Doctor House," Olivia Kendall straightened up and looked directly at the crotchety man with sad eyes, "Is she going to survive?"

"I don't know," House admitted, "We think we may know what's been causing her symptoms, we should have test results very soon and then we should be able to start her on the appropriate medication."

"How long does she have?" Richard asked quietly as he put his arm around his wife.

"A day," House replied, "Maybe two, it all depends how long she's able to fight this fever."

"She'll live," House heard Olivia say to her husband as he walked back down the hall, "She's made it this far, she's got to live."

"Hey, how is she?" Wilson appeared rather magically in front of House as he limped down the hallway. "I heard she flat lined..."

"Alost three minutes," House replied, "But Foreman got her heart going again, she'll be all right...for now."

"This kid must have written a book about how to annoy you," Wilson said thoughtfully, "I haven't seen you this bitter since Cuddy gave you those extra Clinic hours."

"I'm thinking maybe I should hire her to keep me amused," House replied with a shrug, "You know, as long as she's sick I don't have to do anything else."

"Sick and _dying_." Wilson put in, "House, please tell me you've got something...An idea or something."

"I think she's being poisoned." House said simply.

"Um... how?"

"When she was tested for Hep B whenever it was, last year, the doctor who took her blood and didn't believe her story was the same who administered the dose of Hydrocortisone just before she went into a coma."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It means," House said as he turned around quite suddenly, "That she was poisoned probably, and whatever it is, it's killing her. Hence why I have Cameron running tests to find out what was really in that bag of hydrocortisone so we can give her whatever antidote she needs before it's too late."

"How long does she have?" Wilson asked quietly.

"I don't know..." House admitted slowly, "I told her parents a day or two but at this rate... her heart is already failing, she probably has a few hours of extreme pain before her system shuts down completely."

"Good thing she's in a coma I guess," Wilson said sadly, "The kid doesn't need any more pain."

"I suppose..."

"House!" Cameron poked her head around the door of the lab and motioned for him to come. "I think we've found it!"

"What is it?" He asked swiftly as he limped into the lab.

"The bag contains a high amount of scopolamine and hyoscyamine, it's antichloinergic poisoning. I ran the combination of substances..."

"What did you find?"

"Datura... It's Moonflower. She's been poisoned by Moonflower."

"What does it do?" Wilson asked.

"The toxic effects can be anything from confusion to seizures and comas." House replied quietly, "Including Hyperthermia, it explains her temperature, her... everything."

His mind suddenly ran blank, a cold chill went up his spine, a frightening thrill filled his senses. It was that simple. The evolution of Jenny's life was before them, it had started as a simple chest cold and in a matter of days the doctors had been thrown into a sickening conspiracy.

"House... what are you going to do?"

"Start her on physostigmine," He replied as he snapped from his daze, "Continue her hydrocortisone treatment and keep her on ice until her temperature goes back down."

Were they too late? He wasn't certain.

'_What's this feeling?' _House thought as he collapsed onto a lab chair after Cameron and Wilson had left. _'This adrenaline, this fear? Why? Why am I afraid? Why don't I want to lose this patient. She's just like the rest, she's just an ignorant, stupid, selfish little kid. What makes her different?'_

Love, not the type a man feels for a woman and vice versa, but love was that feeling. The type that makes you cry when a best friend moves away. The type that makes you act irrationally and make choices to save another's life, even when you know they won't appreciate it. House had grown to care for Jenny, seeing so much of himself in her was frightening... Shocking. He didn't imagine that there could be another human being in the world that reacted as he did to uncomfortable situations, with wit and insults.

The clock on the wall hit midnight and the hospital was dead. The ducklings were in the room adjacent to House's office, drinking coffee, their eyes drooping and their minds wandering into delirious states. House, on the other hand, was alert as a watch dog, he sat at his desk and stared out to the empty hallways with a frozen face.

They had waited for three hours with no sign of improvement from Jenny, House had suggested that maybe the ducklings head back to their ponds and get some rest and eat a few mosquitoes, none of them left, they all wanted to be near by when or if Jenny died. House's Ipod played softly in the background, something by Chantal Kreviazuk, though he wouldn't admit it if asked, Flying Home... That was the song name.

Something caught his attention, Chase, Cameron and Foreman all swiftly got out of their seats and left the conference room, their pagers hadn't gone off but something had dragged them up and out, a feeling undoubtedly.

'_I could go too,'_ House thought grimly, _'But I don't like dead bodies, there's usually crying people near by... I hate crying people.'_

He stood up, with cane in hand, and hobbled out of his office, slowly of course, he didn't want it to look like he had followed the others to Jenny's room. They might mistake his wandering nature for actual caring.

When asked later on in his life what the most memorable moment was in his career as a doctor, Gregory House would not reply that it was the time he delivered a baby in the dead of winter in the back of a taxi and he would not claim that it was him finding a cure for Ebola. The most memorable moment was witnessing the young Jennifer Kendall slowly open her eyes.

Cameron, Chase and Foreman were already in the room, all three of them in shock and quite paralysed by the sight of the girl who was smiling slightly.

"Miss me?" She asked quietly with a weak chuckle.

"Oh... my god."

House stood outside of the room and watched as Cameron took her vitals and Foreman replaced the bag of hydrocortisone and Chase began explaining what had happened. He couldn't be certain but her thought he saw the young girl turn her head and look out toward him, it didn't matter. House turned as quickly as he could manage and began limping back down the hall to his office where he felt like he could finally get a bit of rest.

"Jenny," Cameron said quietly as she sat beside the young girl, "There are some people here who want to meet you... They've been here for a while but you slipped into a coma before we could introduce you."

"Who?"

"Are you feeling up to meeting them?" Chase asked.

"Depends who it is, who is it?" The girl demanded weakly.

The three doctors exchanged brief glances and nodded to each other. Foreman quickly stepped out the sliding door and then back in, two people who looked vaguely familiar trailing behind him.

"M-mom? Dad?"

Olivia Kendall covered her mouth as she gave a sob, Richard Kendall's eyes brimmed with tears, the two parents, the two canes that Jenny had needed for so many years, slowly walked forward and sat beside their daughter. The moment of silence was broken by tears of joy.

xXx

"You can avoid talking to her all you want," Wilson snapped, "But eventually she's going to catch up to you."

"I have a cane, I can beat her back."

"You'd really beat a kid that just came out of a coma? Come on House, Just talk to her. You owe her an apology for being so mean!"

"How was I mean? I'm not mean! I am never mean, I may be brutally honest, I may be snippy, but I am NEVER mean."

"You were mean to her."

"I know," House rolled his eyes, "Doesn't mean I have to talk to her. I'm mean to patients all the time. Hell! I make little woodland animals cry, do I ever apologize? No. So why should I now?"

"Because you'll keep jumping down everyone's throats until you see for yourself that she's breathing and being as sarcastic as ever." Wilson replied from his spot in House's office, "Just talk to her, It's not like you can be any more insulting to her."

"What the deuce are you-."

"You're only scared because she can give as good as she takes, she can bite your head off at three paces! You're scared because she's just like _you_."

"I am not scared."

"Oo look at me!" Wilson went high pitched in an effort to mock House further, "I'm House, I'm a bitter old man who's afraid of a patient because she's wittier than I am! Boo hoo! Please don't hurt me!"

"You can shut up now."

"Go on, talk to her, you know you want to."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No I-.."

"Okay, we can do this all day, it's not going to change the fact that you want to talk to her, we can all see it. You just want to confirm for yourself that she's alive. There's nothing wrong with making sure your patient is still breathing!"

"If I go will you go away?"

"No."

"So what to I gain from it?"

"Peace of mind?"

"Ha ha." House forced a laugh, "Funny. You should go on the road with that show, I'd pay to see it again, really I would."

"I'll take two of your clinic hours."

House was up and out the door before Wilson finished his sentence. With a sense of victory, Wilson leaned back in the chair and picked up a discarded Archie comic.

"He's right... why don't they ever graduate?"

xXx

House gently slid the door to Jenny's room open with his cane and closed it again. She was sitting up in bed, still pale but certainly alive. Her fingers moved carefully as she pulled a wire through a small seed-like bead.

'_She's making lizards again?'_ House thought, _'Good grief.'_

Jenny didn't look up, she knew immediately who it was just by listening to the awkward walk.

"You're awake." House noted.

"You're still gimped." Jenny retorted, "Sorry, I thought we were playing the 'Point out the obvious' game."

"Touche," House muttered as he walked forward, "How are you feeling?"

"Would you believe better?" Jenny asked as she slammed the wire down in frustration, her hands were still shaking too much.

"I only have one question." House said as he picked up the wire and slipped it through the beads as he had seen the girl do when he had first met her. "How long has this been going on? The abuse, everything, really. How long?"

"Since I can remember," Jenny replied quietly as she accepted the wire back with a grateful nod. "Listen, I'm so-."

"Forget it," House replied coolly, "Remember, I don't like patients that lie. No one is exempt from the rule, not even you."

He walked out of Jenny's room without a second glance, knowing that if he did look back or listen for some kind of reaction, he would only put his guard down again and leave himself open to more hurt.

That was fine, Jenny made no reply, she simply strung beads onto a wire and continued making her lizard.


	24. Chapter 24

Three weeks later...

"Doctor House?" Someone knocked lightly on the door of his office. House was laying back in his chair with a comic over his face, he certainly didn't want to tal to _her._ Cameron had scolded her for being rude to Jenny, followed by Wilson, Foreman, Chase and then Cuddy. None of them were happy to hear about how he had treated her, but House had simply shrugged it off.

"Go away..." He muttered loudly.

"I think I'd rather talk to you," Jenny smiled slightly, "Because you didn't give me a chance to explain before. I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything about... The Corbin's and about me. But I knew if I did then they'd probably send someone after you. I couldn't do that, not after you had gone to so much effort just to find out the truth."

"You know something kid? You grew up way too fast."

"I'm told that a lot." Jenny replied with a small smile.

"So," House removed the comic from his face and looked up at her, "You're discharged huh?"

"Yup."

"You've got your meds?"

"And a handy little medical alert necklace." Jenny fiddled with the silver chain around her neck, "Incase I fall off a cliff or something."

"Makes sense."

"Doctor Cameron put your name on the doctor contact form."

'_Crap!'_

"Well, okay then."

"I told her you would rather be gagged with a thousand spoons then be my emergency contact doctor. She only laughed. I think you must have done something to piss her off."

"Several times." House put in.

"Well, she probably has more plans up her sleeve. You might want to... I don't know, apologize or something."

"I think by talking to you, I'm in the clear." House replied, "So are you going back to BC?"

Jenny didn't reply for a moment, as if still pondering her own fate. "I don't know, I'm kind of stuck in a rock and a hard place. The police want me to stay so I can testify, then I'll probably go to BC for a while. But I don't think I'll stay, I really want to go to New York now... It's weird, like it's calling to me I guess. Either way, I don't think I'll be staying anywhere for very long."

"Well... be careful then."

"I will." Jenny replied, "Thanks, really, for everything. You probably hear it a lot, but you..." Jenny exhaled sharply, "You really helped me out. No one ever really tried that hard before."

"I guess I just like to encourage you younguns to look for the best in people."

"Like you do, right?" Jenny mocked slightly, "Looking for the best in people? You don't see it, but you should. You're blinded by your own cane. You think your limitations are physical but they're all in your head, Doctor House. You can do as much as you see, I really don't see how you can do so much when you're as blind as you are."

"When did you become a shrink?"

"Being in a coma does funny things to a person," Jenny laughed quietly.

"So, are you going to sing again?"

"I'm doing one last night at the bar," Jenny replied with a weary smile, "But this time, I sing what I want to...Here... I made you a present." She swiftly changed the subject and walked forward to place a small beaded lizard on House's desk. He had a green body and bright blue eyes with yellow feet and a yellow stomach. The thing was quite adorable, House decided after staring at it for a moment. Its nose was tilted upwards as if it looked up at the doctor with grand curiosity.

"I made his back right leg a bit shorter, just for you." Jenny smiled.

"Nice," House rolled his eyes as he picked the small creature up and held it in the palm of his hand. "Thanks kid."

"Any time." Jenny turned and moved to walk out of the office where Spencer was waiting near by, she stopped suddenly and thought before turning back. "Doctor House?"

"Yeah?" House said as he looked over the lizard.

"I'm serious about the limitations thing... You really can do as much as you see. You... you've bound yourself to your own disability, if you keep doing that it'll just take you down piece by piece."

Before House could reply, Jenny was gone, out the door of his office and out of sight. He smiled slightly before setting the small lizard on the edge of his computer monitor so its legs hung down in a comical fashion.

xXx

"_L.A. lights never shine quite as bright as in the movies...Still wanna go..."  
House found a seat near the back of the bar in a dark corner, he hadn't actually planned on going out that night, but the drive home had somehow brought him to the bar. One last song, he decided, that's all I want to hear._

"_There's something here, In the way, in the way that we're constantly moving... Reminds you of home..."_

There was only Jenny on the stage, a piano before her, her fingers gently pressing down the ivory keys as her voice rose above the ground and calmed the gaudy voices.

"_So you've taken these pills, For to fill up your soul...And your drinking them down with cheap alcohol..."_

House put down his bottle of Vicodin which he had begun to unscrew to get at a pill and looked up at the stage, wondering what that phrase meant. The bar had fallen silent and now every person was staring at the young girl with the single stage light on her.

"_I might be inclined to be yours for the taken. And part of this terrible mess that you're _

_making. But me, I'm the catalyst..."_

He was almost proud for some reason or another, to see Jenny there on the stage, still alive. Granted, he had almost been too late, but now that didn't matter. Now Jenny could run as far as she wanted even if she didn't have to.

'_Good for you...'_ He thought slightly, _'Bout time one of us got through our issues.'_

Fin

A/N: That's it folks! I'll start working on the second book soon enough. )


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